HACKENSACK, New Jersey -- Fairleigh Dickinson University swept the American International College men's volleyball team 25-18, 25-19, 25-18 on Saturday, January 15.

AIC falls to 0-4 on the season.

The home side scored the first four points of the match, but AIC kept it close with a series of blocks; Pedro Panelli had his hand in both, and John Rivera Ortiz notched one as well as two kills as AIC closed to within 11-8, but the Knights went on a six-point run. Undeterred, AIC scored eight of the next 11 to close the gap back to 22-18, but the Knights notched the next three with two blocks to put away the set.

The second set was a back-and-forth battle. The Yellow Jackets and Knights traded points all the way to the 19-19 mark. The hosts never let AIC take a lead, hhowever, and took advantage of errors by the Yellow Jackets late in the set to take it and a 2-0 lead.

The Knights notched the first three points of the third, but AIC pushed back, and took the lead at 10-9; both Ortiz and William Fitzpatrick notched kills to keep AIC ahead, but the Knights turned it around and scored 12 of the final 16 points to take the match.

Ortiz's 12 kills led AIC, as did his eight digs; Michael Maldonado turned in 22 assists and six digs, whhile Alejandro Miranda landed six kills and seven digs.

AIC will head west to Buffalo, New York to take on D'Youville and Daemen on January 20 and 21, respectively; the first match is a 7:00 p.m. start, while the latter is at 1:00 p.m.