SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts – It was a nonconference matchup that felt more like a postseason contest, and the American International College women's volleyball team edged out Southern Connecticut State University 25-22, 20-25, 25-15, 19-25, 15-9 on Tuesday, September 29.
AIC is now 15-1 overall.
The Yellow Jackets hit .324 in the opening set and needed that offensive output as the Owls managed to keep the score close. AIC trailed 20-19 before back-to-back Selin Guler kills sparked a four-point run, and Janelys Perez Cortes finished the set off with a shot to the wood.
The Owls flipped the script in the second with tremendous defense. They blocked AIC's attacks seven times, including four each by Katie Bardak and Sarah Stark, the last of which was a combo block on set point to tie the match.
Those blocks evaporated in the third. AIC landed 17 kills and had just one error on offense in the middle stanza, running up an 18-10 lead with a long middle-of-the-set run that included back-to-back Perez Cortes aces. She also had the set point winner to push AIC to a 2-1 lead.
The Owls had their backs against the wall in the fourth and rebounded again, holding AIC to hitting negative while managing to side out on AIC's serves 70 percent of the time. Bardak had four kills on four swings, and the Owls forced a fifth set.
The final set was tied 6-6 when Yuleishka Alvelo Melendez stepped to the serving line. The local product from Paulo Friere School put on a brilliant display, forcing the Owls out of system repeatedly, acing one of the serves, and helping the Yellow Jackets to a 13-6 lead before finally missing. That set the team up to win the match, which ended on a Victoria Mendez solo block.
Perez Cortez led AIC with 18 kills, while Guler and Michel each had 15. Michel also made 15 digs and Guler 14, while Mia Berdecia made 13 digs in three sets. Lajla Rasljanin had five blocks and hit .429 with seven kills. Mendez dished out 51 assists.
AIC opens Northeast 10 Conference play on the road on Saturday, October 3 at noon at Franklin Pierce University.
