Men's Volleyball battles hard in loss to Daemen

SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - The American International College men's volleyball team put up quite the battle in an 11-25, 17-25, 22-25 setback to Daemen University on Sunday, February 4.

AIC is now 1-5 on the campaign.

The first set was controlled by the visiting Wildcats, who swung at a .615 clip and opened with a 7-1 run and added an 11-2 surge to dominate the opening portion of the match. Jariel Giraud finished the first with a kill.

The Yellow Jackets improved in the second, keeping the score close until late in the set when a pair of three-point runs helped Daemen pull away; the Wildcats scored the final point on a shot by Ondrej Arabasz.

AIC turned the volume up again in the third, scoring the first point of the set on a Robert Santana kill, and with the set tied 7-7 went on a 5-0 run that involved several hard-fought rallies. The Wildcats were able to claw back, and the teams exchanged the lead multiple times all the way to 21-21 when the visiting squad finally was able to close it out on a block at match point. 

Alejandro Miranda led the offense with a match-high 10 kills, one ahead of Santana's nine. Michael Maldonado dished 19 assists in the setback.

AIC hits the road for the next five, beginning on Wednesday, February 7 at Rivier University with a 7:00 p.m. first serve.