Box Score

BOSTON, MA (January 19, 2009) -- In a rematch of last season's North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) championship match, host Newbury upended the Vassar men's volleyball team 3-2 (33-31, 30-21, 29-31, 18-30, 15-12) in the season opener for the Brewers. Junior outside hitter Phil Tully (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitmas) led Vassar with 22 kills.

Vassar, which came into the match ranked No. 3 nationally in the AVCA/Bison Top 15 Coaches Poll, will host No. 1 ranked Springfield College in a rematch of last seasons Molten Division III Men's Invitational Volleyball Championships this Friday, January 23 at Keynon Hall at 7:00 p.m. The victory improves Newbury to 3-1 on the season.

Tully, an ACVA First-Team All-America last season, picked up where he left off a year ago, registering 22 kills on 44 attempts, a .341 attack percentage. Sophomore Evan Fredericksen (Menlo Park, CA/Menlo Atherten) had 17 kills and senior Steve Micucci (Millis, MA/Millis) had 14 kills. Senior John Kessenich (Chicago, IL/Richard Montgomery), who returned this season as an ACVA First-Team All-America selection, had 56 assists and fellow senior Scott Leserman (Manhattan Beach, CA/Mira Costa) earned 20 digs.

The Nighthawks were led by Mark Thomas (Wilbraham, MA/Minnechaug Regional) and Joshua Aberly (Palatine, IL/Palatine) who recorded 20 and 19 kills, respectively.

The Brewers built strong leads in the opening set, only to see Newbury hunker down and orchestrate back-to-back points to take the opener. Set two, also won by Newbury, was tied 20-20 before the Nighthawks won 10 of the final 11 points. Set four, captured by Vassar, was a decisive victory.

Critical for the Brewers were the 31-29 third set and 30-18 fourth set victories, setting the stage for the climatic fifth set. Vassar held a scant 5-3 lead following a Newbury attack error and both teams battled back-and-forth with the Brewers inching ahead 12-11 following a kill from Fredericksen. But the tide turned quickly and Newbury won the final four points, the last coming on a service ace.

Down 2-0 in the match, the Brewers narrowly won the third set 31-29 and the fourth easily, 30-18. Set three went down to the wire, but didn't start out that way. The Brewers built an 18-11 lead after a Micucci kill, but lost momentum thereafter, enabling Newbury to tie the set at 23-23. The set was tied five more times from that point, the last at 29-29, before Newbury captured the final two points. The fourth set was never in doubt, as Vassar jumped out to a 28-15 lead and cruised home with the win. Tully had eight of his 22 kills in the fourth set and hit .727.

In the first set, which set the tone for the match, Vassar held a 20-13 lead following a Tully service ace. Newbury then clawed its way back into the match, winning eight of the next 14 points to draw within 26-22. Newbury then won six of the next seven points to take a 28-27 lead. Kills by Fredericksen tied the set at 28-28 and again at 29-29. Senior Greg Maier (Millis, MA/Millis) was able to knot the set at 30-30 with a big kill and Frdericksen once again made things even at 31-31 before Newbury reeled off the last two points.