SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - The American International College men's volleyball team made the adjustments it needed to to earn a 22-25, 25-18, 25-27, 25-23, 15-12 win over Emerson College on Thursday, January 30.

AIC is now 2-5 overall.

The offenses struggled to hit cleanly in the first set, with seven attack errors for the Lions and eight by the Yellow Jackets, and while AIC kept it close the whole way, the Lions never trailed in the set, and the Yellow Jackets only had five strings of two consecutive points. Emerson was able to take the set on a kill by Chase Fagen.

The second set was a different story. AIC limited the Lions to just five kills and took advantage of an early five-point run to lead 13-7 with kills by Emil Zhmaidziak, Willie Lopez Morales, and Jahcere Registe in the stretch. Ultimately, it was Lopez Morales with the finish, acing the set-point serve to tie the match at 1-1.

The Lions buckled down in the third, and had their best showing of the night, hitting .355 as a team and limiting themselves to just three attack errors. The service line hurt the Yellow Jackets as well, with six Emerson points on either aces or AIC errors. AIC was able to overcome a 23-21 deficit thanks to Lopez Morales, but could not capture set point, and the Lions grabbed the final three points to flip a 25-24 score in their favor, 27-25.

AIC needed to rise to the occasion in the fourth set to keep its hopes alive, but the Lions kept it close the whole way to 21-21. Hector Garcia Quiros stepped up and scored back-to-back kills, and the Yellow Jackets held off the Lions from there, taking the set on a service error and setting up a showdown in the fifth.

The Yellow Jackets fell behind 2-0 but Registe picked up a kill and a block to tie things back up and the Yellow Jackets grabbed the next two as well, forcing an Emerson timeout. The Lions evened the match up at 8-8, but an error on the following serve put AIC back on top and Lopez Morales and Aidan Miller ensured AIC did not relinquish the lead again with a booming kill and an ace respectively. Lopez Morales made the final three kills of the match, finishing off match point to give the team a well-earned victory.

His final line was impressive, as his 32 kills nearly doubled his previous career best of 17, and he added in 12 digs. Miller, who came in to start the second set, racked up 45 assists. Fabian Lugo snagged 23 digs from the libero position.

AIC returns to action against FDU on Saturday, February 1 at noon.