Women's Volleyball season ends in NCAA Tournament

GARDEN CITY, New York - The American International College women's volleyball team could not overcome service woes in a 22-25, 23-25, 25-21, 19-25 loss to Daemen University in the NCAA Division II East Region Quarterfinal at Adelphi University on Thursday, November 30.

AIC ends the 2023 campaign at 16-11.

The opening set was a back-and-forth battle, with AIC building to a 12-7 lead on a Peric kill, but the Wildcats rallied, pushing back to tie it at 13-13. AIC battled through some miscues to get to a 21-19 advantage on a Dila Derendeli shot, but Daemen used its timeout to make adjustments, and scored six of the next seven to flip the set onto its side, including three blocks in the run.

The second was a near-copy of the first. AIC and Daemen battled back and forth, with the Wildcats making runs that the Yellow Jackets responded to. Peric and Derendeli closed the gap to one with kills late in the set, but an error at the serve line put Daemen ahead 2-0.

With their backs against the wall, AIC needed a change and found it in the form of rookie setter Victoria Mendez. She helped lead AIC on a 6-1 run early and forced a quick Daemen timeout. The Wildcats once more battled back to tie, and countered another AIC run with one of their own. AIC trailed 19-18 when the Yellow Jackets went on a run, with Paola Soto Burgos and Dora Butkovic landing kills and Amber Williams and Mendez combining for several blocks, including the set-point stuff that forced a fourth.

AIC jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but it was not meant to be for the Yellow Jackets; Daemen took 11 of the next 13 points to put the set in their control, and despite battling to close back within four, the Yellow Jackets could not get the offense going. Maggie Burns put down the final shot to end the match and with it AIC's season.

Soto Burgos led AIC with 13 kills and 17 digs and also put up three blocks, while Mendez made 21 assists and 16 digs plus four blocks in her two-plus sets of work. Amber Williams added nine kills and four blocks, while Aleksandra Ivanovic scored 10 points thanks to four kills and a team-best six blocks.