SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts The American International College men's volleyball team hosted a tri-match with Nichols College and Russell Sage College on Saturday, February 5. The Yellow Jackets fell 3-0 against Nichols before taking the Gators down in a sweep.

FAST FACTS:
Match 1:
Final Score:Nichols 3, AIC 0
Set Scores: 21-25, 12-25, 27-29
Records:AIC falls to 0-4, while Nichols moves to 3-2


Match 2:
Final Score:AIC 3, Sage 0
Set Scores: 25-16, 25-22, 25-17
Records:AIC moves to 1-4, while Sage moves to 3-5
Location:Butova Gym Springfield, Massachusetts

KEY STATS:
Match 1:
AIC:
John Rivera-Ortiz: 10 kills, four blocks
Ben Warren: seven kills
Pedro Panelli: six kills, four blocks
Brendan Hickey: 22 assists, six digs

Nichols:
Collin Hunter: nine kills, six digs
Ray Wang: eight points, five aces
Tanner Soracco: seven kills

Match 2:
AIC:
John Rivera-Ortiz: 15 kills, eight digs, two aces
Ben Warren: 11 kills, 10 digs
Pedro Panelli: eight kills, four digs
Brendan Hickey: 16 assists, nine digs
Michele Bascape: 20 assists, five digs

Sage:
Corey Topple: eight kills, eight digs
Camden Knight: five kills, eight assists, seven digs
Ryan Jennings: 14 assists, three kills, eight assists

HOW IT HAPPENED:
Match 1:

• The Bison jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the first set. Trailing 8-4 AIC fought back to tie the game at eight. After a point by the visitors, the Yellow Jackets took their first lead of the match at 10-9. The set was tied at 19 when Nichols started to roll as they took the set 25-21.
• The Bison took the second set 25-12.
• The Yellow Jackets trailed 4-2 in the third set. Rookies John Rivera Ortiz and Ben Warren notched kills as the Yellow Jackets stormed to a 9-5 lead. The Bison answered with a 5-0 run to go ahead by one.
• AIC led 20-19 when the Bison went on a 3-0 run to take the 22-20 lead. The two teams battled back and forth before Nichols took the set 29-27 to complete the sweep.

Match 2:

• The Yellow Jackets flew out of the gate to a 4-1 lead thanks to kills by Ortiz Rivera, an ace by rookie Alex Marinaro and a pair of mistakes by the visitors.
• Leading 6-4 the Yellow Jackets went on a 9-2 run to put some distance between the Gators. AIC kept rolling as they led 22-16 and fed freshman Pedro Panelli three times to take the program's first set win 25-16.
• Trailing 12-10 in the second stanza, Ortiz Rivera started a 7-1 run AIC flew past the Gators. AIC led 23-22 when a service error by the Gators and a block by Rivera Ortiz secured the second set for the home team.
• AIC kept rolling in what would be the final set. Leading 7-4 Panelli had a thunderous kill to start that sparked a run. Teammate Rivera Ortiz followed with an ace. Before the Gators knew what happened Warren notched a kill, rookie Michele Bascape had back-to-back aces and Marinaro had a kill as well to give AIC the 13-5 lead. With match point, Rivera Ortiz took a pass from Bascape to seal the first win in program history.

IT FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME:

• AIC made history multiple times in their match against Sage. The Yellow Jackets won their first, second, and third set. Additionally, they won the program's first win and first sweep in program history.

UP NEXT:

• The Yellow Jackets are scheduled to head to Buffalo for a pair of matches on Saturday, February 12. At noon AIC will take on Daemen College at Daemen followed by D'Youville at D'Youville at 6 p.m.