WILMINGTON, Delaware - The American International College volleyball team opened its second tournament of the season, the Wildcat Invite hosted by Wilmington University, on Friday, September 13. The Yellow Jackets fell in two hard fought, five set matches to Georgian Court University and Wilmington.

FAST FACTS:
FINAL SCORE: Georgian Court 3, AIC 2 (20-25, 25-13, 22-25, 25-23, 10-15)
RECORDS: Georgian Court moves to 4-1, while AIC falls to 0-5
FINAL SCORE: Wilmington 3, AIC 2 (25-17, 23-25, 25-17, 23-25, 11-15)
RECORDS: Wilmington improves to 5-1, while AIC drops to 0-6
LOCATION: Wilmington, Delaware

STAT LEADERS:
Game 1
AIC:
Andrea Serra: 31 kills, 10 digs
Sarah Lowery: 10 kills, four digs, four blocks
Naomi Eckert: 42 assists, six digs
Amanda Rodriguez: 12 digs, six assists

Georgian Court:
Aubrey Binkley: 12 kills, 12 digs
Kinsy Haschke: 11 kills, eight digs
Jamie Sweeney: 18 assists, nine digs
Emily McCurley: 12 digs, six assists

Game 2
AIC:
Andrea Serra: 28 kills, 11 digs
Sarah Lowery: 14 kills, 25 digs
Claudia Gonzalez: 11 kills
Naomi Eckert: 53 assists, 18 digs
Amanda Rodriguez: 23 digs, five assists


Wilmington:
Mandy Behils: 12 kills, 14 digs
Dorie Moore: 11 kills, three digs
Sarah Couch: 47 assist, 13 digs
Elly Collins: 29 digs

HOW IT HAPPENED:
GAME ONE:

• Down 1-0 in the first set, the Lions went on a 5-1 run to take the 5-2 lead before a kill by sophomore middle blocker Ada Guilera Martinez and an ace by freshman defensive specialist Janae Kelly stopped the run. The Yellow Jackets were down 10-7 when a pair of kills from sophomore outside hitter Andrea Serra and a Lion error allowed AIC to move within a point of tying the set. Georgian Court took the next point, but Serra added two more kills to give AIC the 13-12 lead. Knotted up at 15, the Yellow Jackets went on a 3-0 run. Serra started the run with a kill. Graduate student outside hitter Sarah Lowery recorded a kill and then joined Guilera Martinez for a block that forced a Lion timeout. Out of the timeout, the Lions went on a 6-0 run and eventually took the set 25-21.
• Tied at three in the second set, AIC rallied off five straight points by four different players to take the 8-3 lead and forced a Georgian Court timeout. The Lions stopped the rally by taking a point before the Yellow Jackets went on a 9-2 run and extended their lead to 10. The Yellow Jackets continued to roll as the Lions took a point or two here or there. AIC took the second set in dominating fashion 25-12.
• Both teams had five points when the Lions took three straight points from the Yellow Jackets. AIC answered with a 6-1 run and took the 11-9 lead thanks partially to three kills from Lowery, a kill from Serra and a block from freshmen setter Naomi Eckert and freshman outside hitter Katie Bannon. Georgian Court did not appreciate the Yellow Jackets' rally as they retook the lead on a 9-2 run to make it 18-13. AIC did not hang their heads as they made a push to make it 18-17 before the Lions took the next three points. The Lions took the third set 25-22.
• Trailing 19-14 in the fourth, the Yellow Jackets started to pull together a run knowing they had to force a fifth set. They took four of the next five points before the Lions took back two points and forced coach Matt Cribbin to call his second timeout. Out of the huddle, the Yellow Jackets stormed back and tied the set at 23 before forcing a Lion error and Lion timeout. With one point needed to force the deciding set, Serra sent home a set from Eckert to take the set 25-23.
• Despite dropping the fourth set, the Lions came out roaring to a 6-1 lead and continued to roll to a 15-10 set win and took the match 3-2.

GAME TWO:

• Wilmington jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set before extending it to 8-4. AIC then locked in and used a 12-4 run to take the 16-12 lead. AIC led 19-16 when Lowery started a 6-1 run to guide the Yellow Jackets to the 25-17 set win.
• Tied at seven in the second set, the Wildcats went on an 8-2 run and took the lead. With the score at 17-12 in favor of the home team, the Yellow Jackets used a balanced attack to tie the set up at 18. Tied at 23, the Wildcats took advantage of a pair of Yellow Jacket errors, as well as a kill of their own as they tied the match up at one set a piece.
• After falling behind 7-2 to open the third, the Wildcats made a push and made it a one-point game at 8-7. Every time they tried to claw their way back into the set, the Yellow Jackets extended their lead. Leading 18-14, AIC went on a 7-3 run and took the set 25-17.
• With their backs against the wall, the Lions opened the set by going on a 9-2 run before extending their lead to nine at 14-5. Down 20-12, AIC tried to push back into the set as they made it a two-point game at 21-19. The Lions struck back and took the 23-19 advantage before making it a 24-20 lead. Serra was trying not to let the Wildcats force a fifth set as she recorded two kills and the Wildcats committed an error to make it 24-23. It was not enough as Wilmington took the next point to take the set 25-23.
• The Wildcats hit the ground running in the fifth set as they jumped out to the 6-0 lead. AIC slowly chipped away at their deficit and made it 10-8. Wilmington didn't let the Yellow Jackets get any closer as they took the set 15-11.

GAME NOTES:

• Serra's 31 kills against Georgian Court is a single match program record. It is also the most kills recorded in a single match this season at the Division II level and the third highest across all NCAA levels. The previous record was held by her former teammate Diva Rivas-Reyes '16. Rivas-Reyes recorded 30 kills against the University of New Haven on November 3, 2015.
• Entering the weekend, Serra's single game high was 21 against Assumption College on October 30, 2018. This weekend, she moved that performance to third place. Not only did she have 31 kills against Georgian Court, but she also recorded 28 kills against Wilmington.
• Serra passed the 500 career kills milestone in the first set against Georgian Court. She now sits at 556 career kills.
• Serra's 59 kills is the most in program history in a single day.
• Eckert recorded a program single match freshman high of 53 assists against the Wildcats.
• Lowery set a personal single match record of 25 digs against Wilmington. Her previous high was 18 in 2016 against New Haven while playing for Saint Anselm College.

NEXT UP:

• The Yellow Jackets look to turn the ship as they take on Jefferson at noon and Holy Family University at 2 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, September 14.

STAY CONNECTED:

• For more updates about the AIC volleyball team, follow@AICvbonTwitterand likeAIC VolleyballonFacebook. For updates on all AIC Yellow Jackets teams, follow@AICAthleticsonTwitterandInstagram, and likeAIC Yellow JacketsonFacebook.