QUEENS, New York – The American International College women's volleyball team opened the 2026 season with a bang, sweeping Post University 25-18, 25-11, 25-20 and then defeating host Queens College 25-20, 25-16, 25-14 on Friday, August 28.
AIC is now 2-0 on the season.
The Eagles had ended AIC's 2025 season, and from the outset the Yellow Jackets made clear that another loss was not going to happen. The team landed 15 kills in the first, with five each by Janelys Perez Cortes and Selin Guler and four more from Carissa Michel; the trio combined to hit .385 in the set. Five aces further solidified the opening set win.
If the first was solid, the second was better. AIC did not commit an attack error in the second set, with Michel and Perez Cortes each scoring three kills, and Michel also made two solo blocks as part of the Yellow Jackets holding the Eagles to a negative attack percentage. Mia Berdecia's four digs also helped as AIC shut Post down to get ahead 2-0.
The Eagles put up a fight early in the third, keeping it close to 11-10, but Perez Cortes put it out of reach by sparking a seven-point run with three straight aces, and ultimately landed the final kill to close out the match.
AIC rolled right into its match against Queens, scoring the first nine points against the host side. The Knights fought back, but the gap was simply too much to close, and Defne Aydin's back-to-back kills closed out a set where she, Michel, and Lajla Rasljanin each notched four of AIC's fifteen finishes. Victoria Mendez also aced three serves in the set.
Another long run pushed AIC to an insurmountable early lead, as AIC turned a 12-5 advantage into a win, scoring the final point of the set on a combo block by Aydin and Renata Mijovic. Michel put down five kills on just six swings and also impressed with five digs.
With the sweep of the day in reach, AIC pressed even harder, and Defne Erdogan dished out three aces in a row early to help put her team ahead 14-4. The Knights again battled, cutting the gap to 19-14, but that was also close as it would get; a Michel kill started the final run, which was punctuated by a pair of Mia Berdecia aces, including match point to end the day with a flourish.
With 22 kills against just two errors, Michel hit a blistering .513, and made 16 digs to go with it; Berdecia made 17 digs, and Rasljanin had nine kills and eight digs, as the trip were the only three to play all six sets. Mendez dished 59 assists in five sets, with five aces and four kills on seven swings.
As a team, AIC hit .376 and held its opposition to hitting .108, and fired 29 aces on the afternoon.
The Empire State trip concludes on Saturday, August 29 with a 12:30 p.m. matchup against Georgian Court University and a 3:00 p.m. nonconference battle with Northeast 10 Conference foe Adelphi University. Both matches will be at Adelphi's Center for Recreation and Sport in Garden City, New York.
