When and Where: November 12, 2022 – Springfield, Mass. (Butova Gymnasium)
Score: American International College 3, Southern New Hampshire University 2
Records: SNHU 16-7, AIC 28-2
Redshirt-junior
Ana Pimenta (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) recorded a career-high 23 kills, as the fourth-seeded Southern New Hampshire University women's volleyball team gave top-seeded American International College all it could handle before falling in five sets in Saturday's NE10 Championship semifinal at Butova Gymnasium.
STANDOUT PERFORMERS
- Pimenta – 23 kills, 13 digs
- Graduate student Alice Arletti (Modena, Italy) – 12 kills, .379 hitting, 5 blocks
- Sophomore Carmen Bernardis (Trieste, Italy) – 12 kills, 3 blocks, 3 digs
- Senior Dai Thawnghmung (Lowell, Mass.) – 11 kills, 2 aces, season-high 18 digs
- Graduate student Sara Montefameglio (Turin, Italy) – 47 assists, 15 digs
- Sophomore Deanne Wilson (No. Collins, N.Y.) – 28 digs
KEY MOMENTS
- The opening set was tied at 17 when a pair of Arletti kills powered a 5-1 run that put Southern New Hampshire in front, 22-18. AIC scored two straight to halve its deficit, but the teams traded points the rest of the way, with senior Kam Blaskey (Ventura, Calif.) ending the set with a big kill.
- AIC led, 19-15, in the second stanza, before scoring six of the next seven to even the match.
- The Yellow Jackets took a 2-1 lead after three, as the set was tied, 22-22, when it used two kills and a service ace to win it.
- With the fourth set knotted at 22-all, SNHU answered the bell in a big way, with a Pimenta kill beginning a run of three straight points that sent the match to a fifth and final frame.
- The Penmen could not ever really get going, as AIC built a 9-4 lead and then scored five of the next eight to go up, 14-7. SNHU would use an Arletti kill and a service ace from sophomore Chiara Di Valerio (Terni, Italy) to pull within five, but a Yellow Jacket kill finished the match and sent AIC to the finals.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Set scores were 22-25, 25-16, 25-22, 22-25, 15-9.
- Blaskey chipped in three kills.
- Di Valerio added three digs and the ace.
- AIC outhit SNHU in the second, third and fifth sets, as well as .219-.190, overall.
- The Yellow Jackets held advantages in blocks (9-5) and aces (5-4).
NOTES
- Southern New Hampshire entered the day having won 10 of its last 12, including five of six and four straight.
- AIC, which is receiving votes in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II Coaches Poll, has now won seven-in-a-row. It is just the second time all season the Yellow Jackets, who improve to a perfect 15-0 at home, have been taken to five sets.
- SNHU ends its sixth NE10 Championship appearance by making its first trip to the semifinals.
- AIC has won 12 of the last 16 meetings with the Penmen, including seven of the most recent eight.
WHAT'S NEXT
- The Penmen will now await their NCAA Championship fate and will learn if they receive an at-large bid when the NCAA Selection Show airs Sunday (Nov. 13) at 10:30 p.m. on NCAA.com.
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