COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College women's volleyball team lost to defending Northeast-10 Conference Championship titlist and 2024 NCAA East Regional Championship runner-up American International College, 3-1 (25-15, 14-25, 25-18, 25-19), on Saturday in the Ross Sports Center.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (4-12, 1-1 NE10), AIC (11-3, 2-0 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Senior Ella Patterson (Folsom, Calif./Vista Del Lago), 6 kills
• Senior Dana Welch (Howell, N.J./Donovan Catholic), 5 kills, 2 blocks
• Junior Grace Almeida (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa), 8 kills, .727 hitting, 3 blocks, 2 aces
• Junior Ashley Marshall (Escondido, Calif./Escondido Charter), 27 assists
• Junior Emily Winefield (Merrimack, N.H./Merrimack), 2 aces
• Sophomore Anna Daggett (Hinesburg, Vt./Champlain Valley Union), 8 digs, 3 assists
• Sophomore D'Niaya Settles (Ames, Iowa/Ames), 10 kills, 2 blocks in 3 sets
• First-year Caitlin Mediate (Portsmouth, R.I./Portsmouth), 19 digs
• First-year Rory Tower (Fountain Hills, Ariz./Desert Mountain), 6 kills, 5 blocks, 2 aces

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Graduate student Danielle Russo-Lolas, 28 assists, 11 digs
• Junior Selin Guler, 9 kills, 3 aces
• Junior Janelys Perez Cortes, 9 kills
• Sophomore Lajla Rasljanin, 10 kills, .625 hitting, 5 aces

MATCH FACTS

• The Purple Knights had more digs (48-47) and blocks (8-5), while AIC garnered a 45-36 edge in kills and a 17-7 lead in aces.

THE ACTION

• Almeida dropped an ace to bring her team within 12-11 in the opening set, but Guler had two kills in a 4-0 response, which ballooned to a set-ending 13-4 run.
• Behind two kills and two blocks from Tower, the Purple Knights raced out to a 9-1 lead in the second set en route to leading by as many as 13 points on two occasions. Almeida clinched the set with a kill.
• Saint Michael's was down 8-7 after a Tower solo block in set No. 3, but AIC countered with a 6-1 run that extended to 16-6.
• Guler's fourth-set kill pushed the lead to 14-2 before the hosts slowly chipped away, climbing within 22-17 on an AIC error, but they closed the gap no further.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S MATCH

• Tuesday at Southern Connecticut State University, 5 p.m.