SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts – For the third year in a row, the American International College women's volleyball team will have a match broadcast in Spanish, as the team celebrates its annual Hispanic Heritage Night on Thursday, October 15 at 7:00 p.m. against Northeast 10 Conference foe Southern New Hampshire University.

The game takes place as part of National Hispanic Heritage Month. The celebration dates to 1968 with Hispanic Heritage Week, and President Ronald Reagan signed legislation expanding the recognition to an entire month in 1988.

It celebrates the contributions of people of Hispanic heritage on American culture and society and the nearly one in five Americans who have Hispanic heritage, and also aligns with the Independence Days of seven Central and South American countries.

AIC's team has a heavy Hispanic influence, with eight student-athletes of Hispanic heritage, including 2024 East Region Player of the Year Victoria Mendez, 2024 NE10 Tournament MVP Victoria Soto Burgos, and 2025 AVCA All-American Janelys Perez Cortes. Head Women's Volleyball Coach Eli Irizarry is also of Hispanic descent, as is student assistant coach Willie Lopez Morales.

"Having a Spanish-language broadcast for our match is extremely important because it allows the Spanish speaking community to get into the emotional side of the game. It allows those fans to feel connected and appreciated along with our Hispanic student-athletes. This is an amazing opportunity to continue exposing to the world our volleyball program and the love of the game," Irizarry said of the event.

The players are excited that their families and friends can watch the game in their native language.

"I think it's beautiful that we have the opportunity to have a broadcast in Spanish of our game because I know it will allow a lot of our family to feel connected to the game, especially the ones in our family who are more comfortable speaking Spanish. I know they'll enjoy being able to watch and listen in a language they fully understand, just making it more special. My entire family is from Puerto Rico, so I know they are going to love this, as they do every year. It is definitely special to me being far from all of them to kind of share the game with them in a way that is so familiar and fun," Perez Cortes said.

Adding to the experience is the fact that the broadcast will be handled by two other AIC student-athletes with Hispanic heritage, as Ramiro Mendez de Olivera and Ivan Rossi will be the commentators. The men's rugby duo are natives of Uruguay and Argentina, respectively, and Mendez de Olivera's mother grew up playing volleyball alongside Mendez's mother, making it a full-circle moment for both.

"For me having the broadcast in Spanish makes it even more special because it allows the Latino community to feel more connected to the game. Also, for our families it's easier to understand the game in our language (Spanish) rather than in English; it's more familiar for them," Mendez said, adding "Having Rama doing the broadcast is awesome because our mothers played together a long time ago. It's amazing to keep connecting through this beautiful sport."

"I am grateful for the staff for making the effort to do the Spanish broadcast for our families, friends and the Latino community to connect with us through the game," she concluded.

The game will be streamed on FloCollege, the official streaming partner of the Northeast 10 Conference. Fans can click here for the link to the Spanish-language stream, and links to streams in both Spanish and English can be found on the women's volleyball schedule page on www.aicyellowjackets.com.