SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - On a night dedicated to growing the game in its home region, the American International College men's volleyball team swept Elms College 25-22, 26-24, 25-20 on Thursday, March 26.

AIC is now 2-15 on the season.

The first set was tight, with 11 tie scores through the first 26 points. Tied at 13-13, AIC went on a 5-1 run that forced an Elms timeout, and though the stoppage ended up resulting in an AIC service error, it did not save the Blazers in the set. Willie Lopez Morales and Emil Zhmaidziak landed kills to put AIC on the brink, and a set-point service error by Elms gave AIC the win.

The Blazers started strong in the second set and quickly pulled away, taking a 14-9 lead and forcing AIC to take a timeout. The Yellow Jackets steadied themselves and were able to tie the game thanks to strong blocking, with Dymittry Terra involved in both stops that moved the score to 17-17. AIC and Elms traded points from there, and the Blazers had the first crack at set point, but Lopez Morales scored a kill to tie the match, and Terra finished it with two more kills to give AIC the win and a 2-0 lead.

As with the first two sets, the third was close early, with a 13-12 AIC lead halfway through, but the Yellow Jackets rolled off three straight points and forced an Elms timeout. AIC was able to push ahead from there, bringing the score to 24-20, and the Blazers hit the final attack of the match into the net to give AIC the win.

Terra made five blocks and 10 kills on the evening, while Zhmaidziak led AIC with 13 kills; Robert Santana had nine. Fabian Lugo grabbed nine digs, while Rian Woods had eight to go with 37 assists, two blocks, and a kill.

AIC returns to East Coast Conference action Saturday, March 28 at 1:00 p.m. against Roberts Wesleyan University.