Alex Tator
Alex Tator

AIC Spoils Bentley’s Final Home Match of Season, 3-0

WALTHAM, Mass.  – Despite trailing by at least four points in all three sets, American International College swept Bentley University, 3-0, in Northeast-10 Conference women's volleyball Friday night at the Dana Center. The scores in the Falcons' final home appearance of 2012 were 25-22, 25-20 and 25-23.

Junior Caitlin Connelly (Holbrook, N.Y.) powered the Yellow Jackets (15-11, 8-5 NE-10) as she hit .346 with 14 kills and seven digs. Senior setter Kervelle Redhead (St. James, Trinidad & Tobago) also had a strong effort for the visitors with 33 assists, six digs and two aces.

Aces were a major part of the Bentley arsenal with the Falcons tying their season-high with a dozen, including four from sophomore co-captain Alex Tator (Los Angeles, Calif./Marlborough School) and three from freshman Jessica Segal (West Harrison, N.Y./Harrison HS).

Bentley also had its third highest block total of the year (11) with sophomore Savannah Dominguez (Miami, Fla./Palmer Trinity HS) and senior co-captain Grace Conner (Santa Barbara, Calif./ San Marcos HS) registering six and five block assists, respectively.

The night started out on a promising note with the Falcons building a 21-15 lead in the opening set. However, Bentley was unable to close it out, AIC embarking on a set-ending 10-1 spurt that featured five Connelly kills.

In the second set, Bentley got off to a 12-8 start, but the Yellow Jackets more than countered with a 17-8 run, despite three straight aces by Tator during one stretch.  The third set saw AIC turn an i8-4 deficit into a 13-11 lead with a 9-3 run. The Falcons came back to take the lead briefly at 16-15 on a kill from sophomore Kelsey Buckner (San Marino, Calif./San Marino HS), but AIC quickly regained the advantage and went on to close out the match.

Bentley (10-18, 5-8 NE-10) will close out the season next week with matches at Southern New Hampshire Tuesday and New Haven Friday.