SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - Everything worked well for the American International College women's volleyball team in a 25-14, 25-15, 25-13 sweep of Mercy University in a nonconference matchup on Wednesday, November 6.

AIC is now 13-6 overall, having won a dozen straight matches; it is the longest win streak for the program since 2022, when the team won 18 consecutive matches. 

The Yellow Jackets roared out to an 8-1 lead and forced an early Mercy timeout, with kills by Janelys Perez Cortez on back-to-back swings as part of the streak. The Mavericks were never able to close the gap, and Carissa Michel closed out the set for AIC with three straight points on a kill, a combo block alongside Victoria Soto Burgos, and another kill. 

Like the first, AIC jumped to an early lead in the second by scoring the first four points, and forced the Mavericks to take both timeouts early to try to find a way to adjust; AIC led 13-6 at the second stoppage of the set after an Aleksandra Lucic kill. Perla Rosa aced the serve out of the timeout, and shortly after a six-point run capped by a Perez Cortes-Lucic combo block put AIC up 22-9. Chelsea Foulis delivered the final point of the set, sending a Victoria Mendez pass down to finish it off.

AIC continued to hammer the ball in the third, and the Mavericks took both timeouts inside of the first 10 points with AIC leading 8-2. There continued to be no answer for the guests, as AIC scored five straight and nine of 11 points to build to an 18-6 lead in part thanks to a trio of aces, with two by Lucic and one by Mendez. Back-to-back miscues ended the match, with the Mavericks giving up match point on an attack error to close the AIC sweep.

The Yellow Jackets hit .392 while holding the Mavericks to .073. Perez Cortes was brilliant, landing 11 kills and hitting .500 while also contributing five digs and four blocks; Lucic hit .615 with nine kills on 13 swings and also made four blocks and four aces to go with five digs. Mendez collected 10 kills and hit .421 while dishing 13 assists, and Alice Di Francesco handed out 22 helpers in the win. 

AIC returns to Northeast-10 Conference play Friday, November 8 at 6:00 p.m. at Southern Connecticut State University. The team's "magic number" to clinch the top overall seed in the NE10 Tournament is two, with three league games remaining.