SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - The American International College women's volleyball team swept the College of Saint Rose, 3-0, in a Northeast-10 Conference battle on Tuesday, October 5.

FAST FACTS:
Final Score: AIC 3, Saint Rose 0
Set Scores: 25-17, 25-17, 25-21
Records: AIC improves to 10-6 overall and 3-2 in the NE10; Saint Rose falls to 5-11 overall and 1-3 in NE10 play
Location: Henry Butova Gymnasium, Springfield, Massachusetts

KEY STATS:
Saint Rose:
Julia Cavalcanti: Six kills, four digs
Emma Strefling: 11 digs, 11 assists
Juliana Venduro: Four kills, seven digs

AIC:
Paola Soto-Burgos: 15 kills, seven digs, .433 attack percentage
Ulrika Blomgren: 10 kills, 11 digs, .450 attack percentage
Mai-Lani Hernandez: Nine kills
Amber Williams: Five kills, .455 attack percentage
Amanda Rodriguez: 19 digs, four assists
Naomi Eckert-Rivera: 44 assists, six digs

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Golden Knights jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening set as AIC struggled to hit the ball cleanly; the Yellow Jackets committed three attack errors in those rallies. The struggles were compounded by a string of service errors that allowed the Golden Knights to build to a 10-7 edge even as AIC's attack started to right itself.
• Senior Andrea Serra-Rosa slammed down two kills to bring AIC back within one, and though Saint Rose responded with a pair of kills, the turnaround was on. AIC took its first lead by collecting the next four points, and then after a block by Karleigh Fripp and Juliana Venduro briefly re-tied the match, the Yellow Jackets went on a run thanks to kills by rookie Paola Soto-Burgos and sophomore Mai-Lani Hernandez, taking a 20-16 edge. An error briefly halted AIC's momentum, but Serra grabbed it back, scoring three kills of AIC's final five points, including set point as the Yellow Jackets grabbed a 1-0 match lead.
• Much like in the first set, the Golden Knights had an early lead that evaporated, as kills by Venduro and Smith were countered by Serra, who had a kill and an ace. From there, the offense spread out, as rookie Ulrika Blomgren earned her first few kills of the match and Soto-Burgos, Serra, and Hernandez all did damage to counter a Saint Rose team that found a way to stay in the match.
• AIC held a 17-14 lead when the Yellow Jackets began pulling away with an ace sandwiched between two errors as part of a four-point run. Valeria Jorge did score a kill for the Golden Knights, but they did not recover, and ultimately rookie Amber Williams landed the kill that represented set point in another 25-17 AIC triumph.
• Once more, Saint Rose held an early lead that vanished as AIC fought back, and once more through the middle of the set the visitors hung tight, with an ace by Allison Sellers tying the score 15-15 in the third. AIC's offense then came alive, as Blomgren, Soto-Burgos, and Hernandez each scored kills, and Soto-Burgos added two more after a Jorge response to push AIC's lead to 20-16.
• AIC's edge had expanded to 23-17 when the Golden Knights began a desperate comeback attempt. Three different Saint Rose attacks landed, and an error by AIC provided the fourth point of a run that brought the visitors within a 23-21 margin. However, Williams snapped the skid with an authoritative kill, and an error on the attack by the guests during the next rally was match point for AIC.

KILLER INSTINCT:

• AIC's 52 kills as a team marks the fourth time this season the Yellow Jackets have broken 50 in a match and the first time they have done so in three sets; the previous three-set high was 49 against Southern Connecticut on September 29.
• The team's attack percentage of .342 was its best showing in a conference matchup so far in 2021; the only better rate was the .411 mark the team posted against D'Youville on September 17.
• Soto-Burgos rang up a match-best 15 kills for AIC, her second-best total of the year.

NEXT UP:

• AIC heads to Pace University for a 1:00 p.m. matchup on Saturday, October 9.