WEST HAVEN, Connecticut- The No. 6 American International College volleyball team and No.3 Daemen College met in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament on Thursday, November 15 in West Haven, Connecticut. The Yellow Jackets extended their NCAA First Round winning streak to three with a sweep over Daemen.
FAST FACTS:
Final score:No. 6 AIC 3, No. 3 Daemen College 0 (25-13, 25-16, 25-15)
Records:AIC moves to 22-11 overall; Daemen moves to 21-11 overall.
Location:Charger Gym, University of New Haven West Haven, Connecticut
STAT LEADERS:
AIC:
Jana Potic: 11 kills, seven digs
Diva Rias-Reyes: 11 kills three digs
Andrea Serra: 10 kills, six digs
Evelyn Lopez: 19 digs
Dolores Kopren: 24 assists, seven digs
Daemen:
Allison Post: seven kills, four digs
Sam Logan: five kills
Ali Greenwood: 20 digs
Isa McCaffrey: 12 assists
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- AIC jumped out to a 1-0 lead and never looked back. Their largest lead of the set was 12, which came when the Yellow Jackets forced an attack error to take the first set 25-13.
- Up 12-10 in the second set, the Yellow Jackets started to pull away from the third-seeded Wildcats. AIC extended their lead to as much as nine when senior outside hitter Diva Rivas-Reyes and redshirt freshman Claudia Gonzalez blocked a Wildcat attack to end the set 25-16.
- The Yellow Jackets continued to roll in the third set, as they took a 5-2 lead. The Wildcats fought back to make it a one-point game, 7-6 before AIC started to pull away once again, ultimately winning 25-15 to complete the sweep.
BUZZWORTHY:
- This selection marks the third straight NCAA appearance and fourth in the program's history. In the last two seasons, the Yellow Jackets have won an East Region title as well as East Region runner-up honor.
- The NE10 released its of the year awards winners on Wednesday, November 7. The Yellow Jackets headlined the awards as they took home three major awards. Junior outside hitterJana Poticearned Player of the Year and first team honors. Senior setterDolores Koprenwas selected as Setter of the Year and was selected to first team all-conference. SophomoreAndrea Serraearned second-team honors. Rounding out the selections was head coachMatt Cribbinwith Coach of the Year honors.
- Kopren recently passed Stephanie O'Brien in career assists, placing her second in program history.Kopren currently has 4,113 assists in just three seasons.
- Rivas-Reyesis the fifth player in AIC program history to pass 1,000 career kills. She currently sits in third place in program history with 1,275 kills while trailingEllisha Terry, who had 1,286 kills from 2008-11. Should Rivas-Reyes pass Terry, she would hold the rally scoring era program record.
- Poticrecorded her 1,000th career kill at Adelphi on September 29. Currently, Potic has 1,253 kills, which is good enough for fourthplace in program history. With her performance against The College of Saint Rose, she jumped Sarah Neaves, who had 1,148 kills, for fourth place. She now trails her teammate Rivas-Reyes for third place.
- Potic jumped ahead of Rivas-Reyes in total points in program history on October 2 at Franklin Pierce. Potic recently pasted Neaves in total points. She currently has 1,455.5, with Rivas-Reyes right behind her with 1,356.5 career points. Potic is now chasingEllisha Terry, who had 1,487.5 points from 2008-11. Should Potic pass Terry, she would hold the rally scoring era program record.
NEXT UP:
- The Yellow Jackets will face the winner of #2 Adelphi University and #7 Southern Connecticut State University in the East Regional Semifinals. The semifinal match will be played at 5 p.m. on Friday, November 16 at the University of New Haven.
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