SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - The American International College men's volleyball team put up a strong fight in a loss to undefeated King's College, 25-23, 25-27, 19-25, 23-25.
AIC falls to 1-10 on the campaign.
The first set did not have an ideal start for the Yellow Jackets as the Monarchs jumped to a 4-0 lead, but AIC settled in and began trading points, as John Rivera Ortiz scored the first kill for the home side. Down 10-5, AIC rallied to cut the gap to one with two kills from Ortiz and one each from Alejandro Miranda and Jacob Thomas, tying the set and then taking the lead shortly after. The teams kept trading points, but AIC stayed ahead by a small margin, and with the score 24-23, Miranda took a pass from Michael Maldonado and slammed it home to win the set.
The back-and-forth followed to the second set. King's led 13-11, then AIC rallied to gain the lead as Thomas, Robert Santana, and Miranda each scored kills. Both teams posted multi-point runs, as the sides battled hard, with several long rallies. AIC had set point at 24-23 and then 25-24, but could not convert, and the guests put one last run together to take the set 27-25.
AIC looked to shake off the setback and kept the third set close early on, tying the score 11-11 after an Ortiz kill on an overpass. However, King's took advantage of netfront play, as AIC was called for four blocking errors down the stretch of the set, helping the Monarchs take the set 25-19.
Now down 2-1, AIC needed to turn up its play. Both sides struggled to string points together as the teams played to 18 tie scores through 23-23 with just three sets of three straight points by either team. Unfortunately for the hosts, King's notched the final two points on kills, taking the set 25-23 and the match with it.
Ortiz hit .304 on 23 kills, adding 14 digs to lead the match. Miranda fired down 18 kills, while Santana had 15 kills and 14 digs. Maldonado set up 57 of AIC's kills, while turning in five digs and two kills of his own.
AIC returns to action on February 18 as the Yellow Jackets visit Monroe.
