SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts – The American International College women's volleyball team outlasted regional rival Post University in a 20-25, 26-24, 13-25, 26-24, 15-11 battle at the Henry Butova Gymnasium on Thursday, October 9.
AIC is now 10-3 overall and remains 1-0 in Northeast 10 Conference play.
In a harbinger of things to come, both sides struggled offensively in the first set. AIC was able to build a 9-5 lead after a combo block by Paola and Victoria Soto Burgos and then a Carissa Michel ace, but the Eagles pushed back to tie. AIC again built a four-point lead at 17-13, only to have the Eagles score the next seven, forcing an AIC timeout. The Eagles ultimately hung on and took the set, with Kristina Peric putting the ball to the wood against her former team; she had five kills but four errors in the set as Post hit .146, but AIC's attack percentage was .067.
The second frame went back-and-forth as both teams continued to struggle to find consistency, combining for 13 attack errors. The score was tied at 11 different points and the lead changed hands nine times. Fittingly, three of the final five points came at the service line; back-to-back service errors gave Post set point at 24-23, but after Lajla Rasljanin tied the set with a kill, Daniella Russo-Lolas aced her serve, and an attack by the Eagles sailed wide on the following point to give AIC the set.
The third was, by far, Post's best set. Peric took it to her old team, hitting .471 with eight kills and no errors, leading an Eagles charge that had the team hit .389. Paola Soto Burgos did have three kills and no errors in the set, but AIC had little else going, and another former Yellow Jacket, Alice Di Francesco, ended the set with an ace, pushing the home squad to the brink.
AIC fell behind early in the fourth set, and trailed 13-6 after the Eagles won a challenge to flip a point their way on a Nuri Shahid-Stevenson attack. The Yellow Jackets might well have folded, but the group battled back and took the lead, with Victoria Soto Burgos and Russo-Lolas blocking Peric before Michel aced another serve to put AIC ahead 18-17, forcing an Eagles timeout. Post responded with three straight and AIC had to use a stoppage as well.
The Eagles block put them on the precipice of a win, with the latter stop including Di Francesco that gave the guests match point at 24-21. AIC needed at least three straight just to survive, and it was here that Janelys Perez Cortes became the hero, with a key kill and then an ace. Two misses by the Eagles suddenly had AIC on set point, and Perez Cortes placed her serve perfectly, acing it to stun Post and force an unlikely fifth set.
The Eagles never recovered from that shock. AIC roared out to a 9-4 lead with seven straight points including a pair of Victoria Soto Burgos blocks, and she and her sister Paola each had a key kill as well during the run. Perez Cortes continued to dominate the ending as well, with four kills, including the shot that gave AIC match point at 14-9. The Eagles could not complete the same comeback AIC had, and their 15th service error of the match was the last touch of the contest.
AIC, which hit .276 in the final set, was just .085 for the match, although Michel did well with 13 kills to lead the team and aced four serves in total. Victoria Soto Burgos added five kills and five blocks, while Paola Soto Burgos made 10 kills and 20 digs. Perez Cortes put up 11 kills, five aces, and nine digs. Perla Rosa made 23 digs and 22 receptions on 23 chances, and Russo-Lolas dished 34 assists.
The Yellow Jackets return to NE10 play with a trip to Colchester, Vermont on Saturday, October 11 to face Saint Michael's College. First serve is slated for 2:00 p.m.
