RINDGE, New Hampshire - On a day that had little go to plan, the American International College women's volleyball team leaned on different players over the course of the match to put together a 25-20, 15-25, 25-22, 25-21 Northeast 10 Conference win over Franklin Pierce University on Saturday, October 3.
AIC is now 16-1 overall and 1-0 in the NE10.
AIC fell behind 5-0 to start the match before riding its defense back into the opening set, with
Victoria Soto Burgos getting up in all three stops during the run. The back-and-forth went from there, but AIC pulled away enough to take the opening set, ultimately clinching the win on a Raven attack error.Â
In the second, AIC's lineup shuffled around, as the team used 11 players to find a unit that worked against the Ravens. Franklin Pierce hit .312 and brushed AIC aside to tie the match.
With the contest now a best-of-three,
Selen Ozgur took over the setting duties, and AIC locked in. Ozgur kept feeding the ball to
Janelys Perez Cortes, who landed nine kills on 16 swings, and that, along with seven digs by
Mia Berdecia and five kills on seven swings from the middles Soto Burgos and
Lajla Rasljanin, helped AIC take a 2-1 edge.
The Ravens started the fourth off strong, trying to get to a fifth set, and led by as much as a five-point margin. AIC closed the gap, however, and it was Rasljanin who took command with a run of five straight service aces. Perez Cortes hit down a handful of kills to follow up, and Ozgur set up Rasljanin for the final shot to the wood to seal the win.
Perez Cortes notched 23 kills to lead the match, but arguably her defense was more impressive; she returned all 25 serves she faced and made 15 digs and three blocks. Rasljanin and Soso Burgos each had six kills.
Victoria Mendez dished out a dozen assists and made seven digs, while Ozgur passed 29 helpers out and also dug seven attacks.
AIC returns to the Henry Butova Gymnasium on Tuesday, October 6 for a 7:00 p.m. showdown with Bentley University.
