SUNY New Paltz Box Score

Rochester Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (October 31, 2008) – Host Vassar dropped its opening two matches of its annual women's volleyball tournament on Friday night at the Athletics & Fitness Center, losing its opening match to SUNY New Paltz 3-1 (18-25, 25-19, 18-25, 10-25) and its second round match to Rochester 3-0 (15-25, 13-25, 17-25). The Brewers will face Fredonia on Saturday, November 1 at 10:00 am, followed by a match against Stevens at 2:00 pm. The losses drop Vassar to 11-17 on the season.

In their opening match against SUNY New Paltz, the Brewers battled heartily, but a series of miscues at inopportune times led to the Hawks pulling away in the fourth set for the victory. The opening set was tight, with New Paltz holding a slim 15-14 lead. The Hawks capitalized on several Vassar attack errors to reel off six straight points for a 21-14 lead, a margin that Vassar could not recoup from.

The second set was a mirror image of the first, with Vassar holding a slim 14-13 lead. Led by the play of senior hitter Katie Newton (Carpinteria, CA/Santa Barbara) who had three kills in Vassar's final 11 points, the Brewers went on a spurt that was punctuated by two big kills from junior Tess Johnson (Henderson, NV/Green Valley) that led the Brewers to a 25-19 victory. The third set was also tied midway, at 14-14, but New Paltz capitalized on a few attack errors and rode the stellar play of senior Katie Schaller (Marilla, NY/St. Mary's of Lancaster) to secure a 25-18 win. In the final set, Schaller had a strong attack game, as did junior Brittany Coyle (Middletown, NY/Minisink Valley) and the Hawks raced out to a 17-9 lead and won eight of the final nine points behind the play of that frontline duo.

Freshman Amy Bavosa (Eastport, NY/Eastport Southmanor) had nine kills in the match, followed by seven from Newton and five from Johnson. Senior Mailynh Phan (Holbrook, NY/Sachem North) had 24 assists. Junior Jasmin Iskandar (San Dimas, CA/Vivian Webb) had 17 digs.

New Paltz was led by Coyle's 13 kills. Freshman Melinda DiGovanna (West Hempstead, NY/West Hempstead) had 12 kills. Junior Stephanie Bova (Central Square, NY/Central Sqaure) had 40 assists and senior Nicole Mercadante (Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker) had 14 digs.

In their second match, the Brewers were swept by Rochester, 25-15, 25-13, 25-17. After dropping the first two sets, Vassar was tough competition in the third but was unable to hold off a strong Rochester attack. After starting the set down 13-6, the Brewers went on a 6-0 run behind the serving of Newton to cut the deficit to 13-12, but were unable to capture a lead as Rochester held on for the 25-17 win.

Vassar was led by Newton's six kills and Bavosa's five. Iskandar had seven digs.