WEST HAVEN, Connecticut- The No. 6 American International College volleyball team and No. 2 Adelphi University met in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, November 16. The Yellow Jackets overcame a 1-0 deficit to win 3-1 and advance to the East Region Championship match for the third consecutive season.
FAST FACTS:
Final score:No. 6 AIC 3, No. 2 Adelphi 1 (12-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-20)
Records:AIC moves to 22-11 overall; Adelphi moves to 27-6 overall.
Location:Charger Gym, University of New Haven West Haven, Connecticut
STAT LEADERS:
AIC:
Andrea Serra: 18 kills, 16 digs
Diva Rivas-Reyes: 16 kills
Jana Potic: nine kills, 10 digs
Dolores Kopren: 41 assists, 17 digs
Evelyn Lopez: 15 digs, six assists
Adelphi:
McKenna Clawson: 13 kills, 11 digs
Victoria Bailey: 13 kills, 7 digs
Grace Wegmann: 32 assists
Katarina Warburton: 33 digs
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The Panthers came out looking to avenge their Northeast-10 Semifinals loss to the Yellow Jackets. In the first set, the Panthers jumped out to an 8-2 lead as they started to control the set. The Yellow Jackets tried to find their way back in, but the Panthers took the set 25-12.
- The Yellow Jackets refocused during the break and took an early 6-2 lead in the second set. Adelphi fought back and took a 12-8 lead. Tied at 19, AIC jumped out to a 22-19 lead before the teams traded points and the Panthers cut the AIC lead to one, 24-23. Knowing they were 2-10 when losing the second set, senior outside hitter Diva Rivas-Reyes ended the set with a kill.
- The Yellow Jackets kept their momentum going in the third set as they jumped out to a 7-2 lead before extending it to 12-4. The rolling continued as the team went ahead 18-9. The Panthers started to slow down the Yellow Jackets as they fought their way back into the set by making it a one-point game at 22-21, then tying the game at 23, but AIC took the next two points to push ahead 2-1.
- To start the fourth set, the Yellow Jackets kept rolling, opening with a 10-5 lead. Adelphi cut the deficit to four, 14-10, before the Yellow Jackets went on a 6-0 run to increase their lead to 10, 20-10. With their season on the line, the Panthers rallied to cut the Yellow Jackets lead to four once again, this time at 22-18. The teams then traded a pair of points to get to 24-20, and with match point in hand, sophomore middle blocker Victoria Perini ended the match with a kill on a pass from NE10 Setter of the Year senior Dolores Kopren.
BUZZWORTHY:
- This marks the third straight NCAA East Region Finals appearance for the Yellow Jackets. In 2016, the Yellow Jackets took home the East Region title. Last season, the Yellow Jackets fell to the hosts University of New Haven in the East Region Finals.
- 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 4,154 assists in just three seasons.
- Rivas-Reyesis the fifth player in AIC program history to pass 1,000 career kills. With her performance against No. 2 Adelphi, she passed Ellisha Terry for second place in program history in kills. She is now the rally scoring era program career leader with 1,291 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 1,262 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 Terry four 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 1,464.5, with Rivas-Reyes right behind her with 1,372.5 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 No. 1 University of New Haven and No. 5 Holy Family. The match will be hosted by New Haven on Saturday, November 17 a 7 p.m.
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