QUINCY, Massachusetts - The American International College men's volleyball team earned its first win of the 2023 campaign in a split of a tri-match at Eastern Nazarene University, falling 25-14, 23-25, 23-25, 22-25 to the hosts before winning 25-15, 25-18, 25-21 over Emerson College on Saturday, January 28.
AIC is now 1-7 on the season.
AIC's first match started strong. The Yellow Jackets roared out to a 10-4 lead with offense across the board, including an early pair of kills and a block from John Rivera Ortiz as well as an Alejandro Miranda ace and kills by Jacob Thomas and Wilmer Rodriguez. They kept up the push, building to a 21-10 lead, and ultimately errors took care of the rest as AIC won the first set 25-14.
The second set started the same way, with AIC quickly opening a 5-2 lead and ultimately going ahead by as much as 13-7 before the Lions turned their fortunes around. They tied the match at 16-16 and took the lead three points later, and ultimately won the set 25-23. The third set was a tight battle, with AIC leading 19-18 and even at 22-22, but again the Lions took the set. Now down 2-1, AIC pushed to a 10-7 edge, but the home squad rallied, taking another close set to win the match.
AIC was frustrated by the loss and took it out on the next opponent, Emerson. Robert Santana put down the first kill as the Yellow Jackets scored each of the first four points, and once again held a 10-4 lead. A short rally by Emerson somewhat closed the gap before Rivera Ortiz boomed a swing to the floor, and from there AIC took control, scoring 14 of the next 22 points to win the set 25-15. In the set, AIC did not commit a single attack error, swinging .700 with 14 kills on 20 attempts.
The second was more of the same. A six-point run in the middle of the set that included a trio of blocks by Rodriguez and Pedro Panelli put the Yellow Jackets in command, and the teams traded points through the end when Rodriguez scored the final kill.
Emerson jumped out to a six-point lead, 13-7, in the third, but the Yellow Jackets countered, shrinking the gap to 14-13 as Thomas and William Fitzpatrick closed the run with a block. Fitzpatrick tied the set shortly after on a kill, and a quick run put AIC in command at 20-18. A block set up match point for the Yellow Jackets, and two points later a service error ended the match in AIC's favor.
Ortiz had a season-high 23 kills against Eastern Nazarene and an additional four on four swings in his short time playing in the Emerson match. Michael Maldonado had 10 assists in the opener and 24 in the win over Emerson. Panelli collected eight total blocks in the two matches.
AIC next opens a four-game homestand on Friday, February 3 against Merrimack College at 6:30 p.m.
