WATERBURY, Conn. – On the verge of their first win against American International College (AIC) since 2004 which would have snapped a 10-game losing streak against the Yellow Jackets, Post University Women's Volleyball was unable to close out their two-set-to-none lead in their Wednesday night home opener at the Drubner Center.

Going to a fifth set for the third time in four matches to start the season, the Eagles dropped the final three sets of the affair, falling to 2-2 on the year with the 3-2 defeat at the hands of AIC who entered the match winless after a Florida trip in which they played one nationally-ranked team in Lewis and another receiving votes in Florida Southern.
 
THE BASICS

Post University 2, American International College (AIC) 3

Post University (2-2)

American International College (AIC) (1-3)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Out of the gate, the Yellow Jackets came out swinging to a 5-0 lead behind a pair of service aces from sophomore setter Victoria Mendez forcing an early timeout by the Eagles. That timeout would lead to an 8-1 run which gave Post the lead back behind three errors during that stretch which would be a major factor for AIC in the first two sets. Seeming to overcome those issues in set one, the Yellow Jackets swung momentum back in their favor with a 6-0 run to go up 20-16 before graduate outside hitter and AIC transfer Kristina Peric willed Post back into it with two service aces as part of a 3-0 run to tie it back at 21.

Trailing 25-24 and on the brink of a set one defeat, junior outside hitter Jelena Milovanovic's attack error followed by back-to-back kills from senior outside hitter Caley Harper and senior middle hitter Hannah Brandt gave the Eagles set one, 27-25.
Set two would see a similar setup in the middle portion of it as Post overcame another early deficit only to fall behind by four, 17-13, following a 3-0 run from the Yellow Jackets. Yet again, it was the Eagles with a response as graduate outside hitter Sara Enright tallied three kills and a block assist during a 6-0 run that gave them a 19-17 lead. Trailing 22-21 down the stretch, the trio of Brandt, Harper, and junior libero Alyssa Groves each recorded a kill before Groves capped off the set-winning 4-0 run to put Post within a set of their first win against AIC since 2004 with a 25-22 victory.

But the match would flip backward the rest of the way for Post and it started with a big 25-5 third set win for AIC in which they cleaned up their 14 errors between sets one and two for a flawless third frame which saw them attack at a .393 percentage while the Eagles attacked at -.025 with 10 errors after committing just two through the first two sets.

Set four would also be no dice for the Eagles to claim the victory as another wire-to-wire set for the Yellow Jackets saw them commit only three errors while Post doubled that number for themselves. The closest the set would get was 8-5 before AIC took over the rest of the way en route to a 25-11 win that forced an unexpected fifth set.

Five lead changes and four ties highlighted the first half of the final set before both teams switched sides with AIC holding just an 8-7 edge on Post which was part of an eventual 4-0 run that put them ahead 9-7 in the first to 15 set. A brief 2-0 stretch knotted the set at nine all and after the Yellow Jackets took the lead twice more, Post reclaimed the lead one last time courtesy of back-to-back attack errors by sophomore outside hitters Claudia Flores Marrero and Janelys Perez Cortes.

Leading 12-11 with the crowd behind them, the Yellow Jackets went to work on both sides of the ball to shut them down and complete the comeback with a game-winning 4-0 run for the 15-12 set win and 3-2 victory. Mendez, who had 43 assists, started it with a kill before an error by Groves, a block from Mendez and graduate middle blocker Kiya Yeoman, and an attack error from Harper sealed the deal.

Peric led the Eagles with 11 kills while Brandt was close behind at 10 kills with four block assists and a .292 attack percentage. Senior setter Maria Fernanda Branco had a team-high 17 assists while Groves led all players with 28 digs as one of four Eagles with double-digit digs in the match.


BY THE NUMBERS

• Victoria Mendez led the match with 43 assists while Jelena Milovanovic had a game-high 16 kills on 50 attempts for a .220 attack percentage for AIC
• After winning their previous four matches that went five sets, Post University has dropped their last two five-set matches and is now 1-2 this year in five-set matches having reached that point in three of their first four matches
• Alyssa Groves tallied a total of 28 digs across both matches putting her at 1,122 in her career moving her past Jen Giarratano for ninth most in program history, Kerry Smith (2005-08) owns the all-time record with 1,689 career digs – Groves is only nine digs away from surpassing Emily Wilman for eighth all-time
• Post University has now lost 11 straight matches against AIC dating back to 2004 – This is the first time they have lost in five sets to the Yellow Jackets and the first time they went to five sets with them since September 24th, 2004, when they won their last match against them

 
WHO'S NEXT
Post University heads down to Long Island this weekend for four matches in two days starting on the campus of Queens College on Saturday. That day, the Eagles will take on Queens College in a rematch of last weekend's five-set thriller at 11:00 AM before a 1:30 PM match with East Stroudsburg University, a team they have not played since 2007 when they were swept, 3-0.