SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - The American International College men's volleyball team made sure Head Coach Wade Robidoux's first collegiate contest was a successful one, downing Russell Sage College 25-14, 26-24, 20-25, 25-22 on Wednesday, January 15.

AIC is 1-0 to start the season.

The Yellow Jackets scored the first three points of the opening set and consistently built their lead from there; after a block by the Gators cut AIC's advantage to 5-4, the Yellow Jackets did not allow consecutive points in the set again. Connor White aced three serves down the stretch, including back-to-back late, and Robert Santana slammed home the final kill of the 25-14 first-set win.

The Gators turned it back on AIC in the second, grabbing a 3-0 lead early. The Yellow Jackets had to battle to pull even, eventually tying the set at 11-11, and taking a 16-15 lead on three straight White kills only to have the visiting squad regain the lead. An ace put the Gators ahead 20-18 and forced a timeout by the Yellow Jackets, who bounced back for a 22-21 lead. Russell Sage put up tremendous work on the front line, blocking back-to-back attacks to get to set point, but the Yellow Jackets changed up their attack, with Emil Zhmaidziak scoring two of the final three kills to steal the set, 26-24.

Russell Sage now faced a sweep, and the young Gators squad responded with an early four-point run to lead 6-4 in the third. AIC continued to run into a strong block and never could put more than two straight points together, while the Gators hit .400, and a Dylan Fox ace ended the set in their favor.

In the fourth, AIC quickly jumped to a 3-0 lead, only to have blocks negate the early run. A 10-6 lead similarly evaporated thanks to strong offense by the Gators, and a 14-11 advantage was blocked away as well. AIC finally began pulling away in earnest, with a block by White and Hector Garcia Quiros keying a run and forcing a Gators timeout. It was to no avail, as Willie Lopez Morales sent the last shot of the match to the floor for the victory.

Aidan Miller was tremendous in setting 48 assists, a career single-match high and a total that overtook his entire previous career quantity. Lopez Morales led AIC with 17 kills, while Zhmaidziak and White each had 11, with White hitting an impressive .625.

The Yellow Jackets hit the road for a tri-match on Saturday, January 18 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The Yellow Jackets will face host MIT at noon and then Emmanuel College at 2:00.