Women’s Volleyball Downed by Regionally-Ranked AIC

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Saint Michael’s College women’s volleyball team lost at regionally-ranked American International College, 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-18), on Saturday during Northeast-10 Conference play in Butova Gymnasium. The Yellow Jackets, who entered the day first in the NE10, were among 10 teams under consideration in the first NCAA East Region rankings.

RECORDS

• Saint Michael’s (1-18, 0-10 NE10), AIC (24-2, 10-1)

SAINT MICHAEL’S LEADERS

• First-year Dana Welch (Howell, N.J./Donovan Catholic), 7 kills, .429 hitting
• Senior Beth Syverson (Huntington, Vt./Mount Mansfield Union/Emmanuel [Mass.]), 6 kills, .455 hitting
• Junior Caitlin O’Connor (Bourne, Mass./Bourne), 6 kills
• First-year Ella Patterson (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago), 6 kills
• Senior Caroline Curley (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury), 3 kills, .600 hitting
• Sophomore Alexandra Báez Rentas (San Juan, Puerto Rico/New Dimensions), 21 assists, 7 digs
• Sophomore Syrah Wright (Richmond, Vt./Mount Mansfield Union), 6 digs, 4 assists
• Senior Maddie Van Winkle (Medford, Mass./Arlington Catholic), 4 digs

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Graduate student Andrea Serra Rosa, 16 kills, .522 hitting, 6 digs, 3 aces
• Graduate student Andjela Bublic, 9 kills, .368 hitting
• Graduate student Lyanne Hernandez, 9 kills, 6 digs, 4 aces
• Senior Naomi Eckert Rivera, 32 assists, 7 digs

THE ACTION

• O’Connor’s kill helped Saint Michael’s lead 4-3 in the opening set, and the Purple Knights later erased a three-point deficit to tie the score at 13 on sophomore Jillian Orth‘s (Bourne, Mass./Bourne) ace. Bublic dropped kills for the next two points to help AIC begin a clinching 12-4 run.
• Yellow Jackets committed errors for each of the first four points of the second set, and Saint Michael’s continued to lead 8-6 behind two kills from Welch and one apiece by Patterson and Syverson. AIC responded with 11 of the next 12 points and never again led by fewer than seven points.
• O’Connor notched a kill for the opening point of set No. 3 before two Serra Rosa aces keyed a 4-0 counter. AIC pushed the lead to 13-6 on Serra Rosa’s kill before Welch downed two kills in a 5-1 run, bringing Saint Michael’s within 14-11. However, Hernandez had a kill and senior Janae Kelly an ace, and the hosts’ lead never again dipped below four points.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL’S MATCH

• Friday vs. Southern Connecticut State University, 7 p.m.