POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (July 18, 2017) -- The Vassar College 2016-17 athletic season continued the success of the past few seasons, seeing some of the best performances in VC history. Over the next few weeks, VassarAthletics.com will take a look at some of the top individual performances of the 2016-17 season. This year though, we are going in chronological order of events, as the top 10 will be revealed in the order that they happened, not by ranking. Today, we focus on the second of our Top 10 performances, which comes from Vassar women's volleyball middle hitter Devan Gallagher against Clarkson University.
 
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Who: Devan Gallagher, Sophomore
Where: Williamson Sports Center, Saratoga Springs, NY
When: October 22, 2016
Statistics: 26 Kills, 4 digs, 3 blocks, .281 PCT
 
The history of winning at Vassar College for the women's volleyball team goes back a long way, as all the Brewers have to do is look up in the rafters of Kenyon Hall to see seven Liberty League titles. Vassar over the last five or so years had been competitive in the conference, but had missed the Liberty League Tournament in 2014 and 2015. The talent was there for the Brewers, and it started to click right after a very difficult stretch out west last year to start the season.
 
After beginning the year 0-5, the Brewers rattled off seven straight, which included a big win over Clarkson University in Rochester. Vassar opened Liberty League play 3-1 and would win another seven in a row before the stretch ended in early October to Stevens Institute of Technology on the road. After a pair of wins, Vassar went into the last weekend of Liberty League play knowing it needed to win most likely two matches to earn the regular season title, but one of them needed to be against seven-time defending Liberty League champ Clarkson University. After a Friday evening loss to Union College, that very scenario presented itself as the two teams squared off at Skidmore College for the right to host the Liberty League Tournament.
 
The first set was all Clarkson though, as the Golden Knights posted 14 of the matches' first 17 points to take a 1-0 match edge. The Brewers came to life in the second set, as VC hit .323 while holding CU to just .139, but sophomore Devan Gallagher was the story in the period. Gallagher hammered down seven kills on 14 attempts, adding a solo block early in the set to push the Brewers to a 25-18 set win. Clarkson would retake its set advantage in the third though, as Gallagher's six kills weren't enough. On the brink and with their backs against the wall, Vassar rallied to send the match to a fifth set, as VC hit .412 for the period thanks to four more terminations from Gallagher to up her total on the day to 20.
 
In a race to 15, the Brewers would fall behind early but rallied back to tie the match at five. Over the rest of the set, the two teams would be tied 10 times, but Clarkson took a 14-12 lead and needed just one point to put the Brewers away. VC got a kill and a block to send the game to extra points. With the score deadlocked at 16, Gallagher took over, as she hammered down a termination to make the score 17-16 in favor of the Brewers. On the next point, Gabby Miller served and on the initial attack by CU, Gallagher went up and rejected the Clarkson attempt to seal the match for Vassar as she was mobbed by her teammates. Gallagher would finish the match with 26 kills on 64 attempts, hitting .281 while posting four digs and three total blocks including the game-winner. Her 28 total points were eight more than any other player in the match that day, and the kill total was a career-best for the sophomore standout.
 
It marked Vassar's first season sweep of CU ever, and it also meant the Brewers would host the Liberty League Tournament for the first time in its current format. Gallagher would go on to finish the season as a Liberty League First-Team performer, while also earning All-Region accolades as the Brewers made it to the conference championship match. The 21 wins in 2016 were the most since the 2009 season, and the win total was also the eighth time under Jonathan Penn that Vassar has eclipsed the 20-win plateau.
 
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Over the next few weeks, VassarAthletics.com will be revealing the Top 10 Performances from last year in chronological order, not ranked in any order this year. Thursday afternoon, we will release the third performance on the list. Make sure to follow along at www.vassarathletics.com, while getting involved on social media with Vassar Athletics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 

2016-17 Vassar Top Individual Performances
July 17 – Honorable Mentions
July 18 – Top Individual Performance #1 – Megan Caveny vs. Rochester, Oct. 6, 2016
July 19 – Top Individual Performance #2 – Devan Gallagher vs. Clarkson, Oct. 22, 2016
July 20 – Top Individual Performance #3
July 21 – Top Individual Performance #4
July 21 – Top Individual Performance #5
July 24 – Top Individual Performance #6
July 25 – Top Individual Performance #7
July 26 – Top Individual Performance #8
July 27 – Top Individual Performance #9
July 28 – Top Individual Performance #10