The American International College volleyball team and men's soccer team will partner up during the 2018 season for several Cultural Celebration Nights, head volleyball coach Matt Cribbin and head men's soccer coach Luke Perry announced on Tuesday, September 11.

The Cultural Celebration Nights will embrace and promote the diversity of AIC's student-athletes and coaches. The events will not only include recognition of men's soccer and volleyball athletes, they will also appreciate the diversity of all student-athletes at AIC and the Yellow Jackets' opponents in the Northeast-10 Conference and East Region.

The first celebration, for the United States as a whole, will take place on September 11, during the volleyball team's contest against Stonehill College and the men's soccer team's matchup against the College of Saint Rose. Both games are set to begin at 7 p.m.

Volleyball will additionally have nights recognizing its student-athletes from Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Serbia, Brazil and Cuba. Men's soccer will also celebrate its student-athletes from Spain, Greece, England, Ireland, Croatia, Brazil, France and Canada.

A detailed list of the teams' celebration nights can be found below.

"We are very excited to be teaming up with men's soccer in celebration of our global diversity at American International College," Cribbin said."Athletics has long strived to be a part of the complete education of a student, and by celebrating our differences, we strengthen our community. We hope our fans will all embrace the opportunity to celebrate the diverse cultures of the world represented right here at AIC."

"To be teaming up with volleyball through our 'AICulture' campaign is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate our diversity at the College," Perry said. "Between the two programs alone, we have student-athletes from 11 different countries and eight different states in the USA. Diversity is in our name, it's embedded in our core values, and it is something we are very proud of."

VOLLEYBALL:
September 11 vs. Saint Rose - United States
September 27 vs. Saint Anselm - Hawaii
October 9 vs. Southern Connecticut - Puerto Rico
October 11 vs. Bridgeport - Serbia
October 19 vs. Southern New Hampshire - Brazil
October 23 vs. Saint Rose - Cuba

MEN'S SOCCER:
September 11 vs. Saint Rose - United States
September 22 vs. Merrimack - Spain
September 25 vs. New Haven - Greece
October 6 vs. Southern New Hampshire - England and Ireland
October 17 vs. Saint Michael's - Croatia
October 20 vs. Bentley - Brazil
October 26 vs. Adelphi - France and Canada

STAY CONNECTED:
For more updates about the AIC men's soccer team, follow @AICMSOCCER on Twitter and Instagram and like AIC Men's Soccer on Facebook. For more updates about the AIC volleyball team, follow @AICvb on Twitter and Instagram and like AIC Volleyball on Facebook. For updates on all AIC Yellow Jackets teams, follow @AICAthletics on Twitter and Instagram, and like AIC Yellow Jackets on Facebook.