SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts- The American International College volleyball team hosted Pace University in the NE10 Quarterfinals on Tuesday, November 6. The Yellow Jackets avenged a regular-season loss to the Setters by taking the match that mattered 3-1.
FAST FACTS:
Final score:AIC 3, Pace 1 (26-24, 27-25, 15-25, 25-17)
Records:AIC moves to 20-10 overall; the Setters fall to 20-10 overall.
Location:Butova Gym Springfield, Massachusetts
STAT LEADERS:
AIC:
Diva Rivas-Reyes: 19 kills, four digs
Andrea Serra: 13 kills, 15 digs
Jana Potic: 12 kills, 14 digs, three aces
Dolores Kopren: 56 assists, 16 digs
Amanda Rodriguez: 16 digs
Evelyn Lopez: 17 digs
Pace:
Tatjana Calimpong-Burke: 12 kills, 15 digs
Claudia Fontanet: 10 kills, eight digs
Katy Motz: 22 assists
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Down 2-1 early in the first set, the Yellow Jackets took five of the next six points to jump into a 6-3 lead. The Setters returned the favor by taking an 8-7 lead before AIC went on another run to go up 18-11. Pace did not give up as they fought back to tie the set up at 24. The Yellow Jackets took the next two points to take the first set, 26-24.
- AIC led 10-5 in the second set when the Setters went on a 5-0 run to tie the set up. The teams traded runs and points until they were tied at 24. After a Yellow Jacket error that gave Pace set point, AIC rallied behind a Setter error and back-to-back kills by senior Diva Rivas-Reyes to take the second set, 27-25.
- With their season at risk of being over, the Setters came out focused in the third set. Tied at seven, the Setters went on a 6-0 run to take a 13-7 lead. The Yellow Jackets tried to stop the streak with three points of their own, but the Setters rallied off 11 of the next 12 points to force a fourth set.
- Trailing 6-5 in the fourth set, the Yellow Jackets started to heat up as they went on a 6-0 run and took an 11-6 lead. From that point on, the Yellow Jackets kept the Setters at bay as they took the set 25-17 and the match 3-1 to advance to the NE10 Semifinals.
BUZZWORTHY:
- The NCAA announced its secondregional rankings for the 2018 season on Wednesday, October 31. The Yellow Jackets were slotted sixth in the East Region. Leading the East Region was a NE10 foe, the University of New Haven, followed by Adelphi University. Daemen College and Molloy College are sitting in third and fourth, while Holy Family University is in fifth.
- Senior setter Dolores Kopren had 56 assists against Pace on Tuesday night. This is her second best of her career in a four-game set. The only four-set match in which she had more was against Bentley on September 16, 2016, when she recorded 58.
- Rivas-Reyes' 19 kills ties a season high. She also had 19 kills against Wilmington University and at Franklin Pierce.
- Kopren recently passed Stephanie O'Brien in career assists, placing her second in program history.Kopren currently has 4,007 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 1,245 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.
- Junior outside hitterJana Poticrecorded her 1,000th career kill at Adelphi on September 29. Currently, Potic has 1,213 kills, which is good enough for fifth place 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 1,410.5, with Rivas-Reyes right behind her with 1,325.5 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 hit the road as they travel to Adelphi University to take on the Panthers on Friday, November 9.
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