SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - The American International College women's volleyball team overcame a rough second set to defeat Franklin Pierce University 25-11, 22-25, 25-21, 25-15 in the Northeast 10 Conference opener for both teams on Tuesday, October 7.

AIC is 9-3 overall and 1-0 in the NE10.

The first set saw dominance by the Yellow Jackets. A kill from Carissa Michel to make it 8-3 made the Ravens call a timeout, as did an ace that made it 16-7. It was another ace, this time by Daniella Russo-Lolas, that put the set away, but AIC led the entire time, thanks in part to hitting .303 as a team with six kills from Paola Soto Burgos and four from Michel.

If the first was owned by AIC, the second was the opposite. Errors piled up quickly for the home team, and back-to-back miscues that put AIC down 15-6 forced Eli Irizarry to use one of his stoppages. The Yellow Jackets did pull back into the set late thanks in part to some great work by Janelys Perez Cortes, getting within two, but the deficit was too big to overcome as the Ravens tied the match at 1-1 on a set-point Avery LeBlanc kill.

With the match even, both teams battled; AIC built a four-point lead early, but it vaporized thanks to strong defense by the Ravens, and a pair of Annaka Lindstrom aces tied the set at 19-19. The Yellow Jackets rebounded, however, and Russo-Lolas set up Soto Burgos for the set point kill to give AIC a 2-1 lead. AIC hit .300 even on the set, and Perez Cortes landed kills on all three swings she took.

Now in control, AIC put the Ravens out of the match with a 6-0 run to start the fourth. The visitors never recovered; another Michel ace put the Yellow Jackets up 15-4, and the team cruised to the end, where a combo block by Michel and Victoria Soto Burgos emphatically ended the match with an AIC win.

The elder Soto Burgos led AIC with 15 kills and also added eight digs, while the younger had five but a team-best four blocks. Michel and Perez Cortes each scored 10 kills and eight digs, and Michel aced four serves. Russo-Lolas passed out 31 helpers, notched 10 digs, and added in five aces.

Perla Rosa led the match with 20 digs, moving past Kristy McIntyre '05 and Amanda Rodriguez '22 for sixth on AIC's all-time digs list with 1337; she needs 30 to pass Andrea Serra Rosa '23 and move into the top five in program history.

AIC will be right back in action Thursday, October 9 with a nonconference matchup against Post University. First serve is set for 6:00 p.m.