Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (January 28, 2009) -- The Vassar College men's volleyball team picked up its first win of the young season this evening, beating cross-river NECVA Metro rival SUNY New Paltz in four sets, 30-18, 29-31, 30-24, 38-36. Vassar junior Phil Tully (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman) led the attack for the Brewers with 21 kills and received considerable support from senior Greg Maier (Millis, MA/Millis), who recorded a career-high 19 kills.

Vassar improves to 1-2 overall and 1-0 in the NECVA Metro conference, and will look to hit .500 this Saturday when they face Purchase State at Keynon Hall at 2:00 pm. The New Paltz Hawks drop to 2-3 and 0-1 in conference play, and will host New York Polytechnic this Friday at 7:00 pm.

The second and fourth sets of the match showcased the essence of back-and-forth competition. There were 18 ties and eight lead changes in the second set, and 17 and nine in the fourth. Vassar eventually prevailed in the fourth set, but New Paltz fought back against nine Brewers' match points before surrendering the win.

New Paltz sophomore Andrew Cassius (Brooklyn, NY/Midwood) was instrumental in keeping his team alive in that stretch, connecting on several of his 21 digs and 47 assists. A number of his helpers in that stretch went to senior Jake Moore (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Hendrick Hudson), who recorded the match-high in kills, with 23. Freshman Kevin Stross (Port Washington, NY/Schreiber) chipped in 15 kills of his own.

But the strong attacking play from Vassar's senior hitter Maier proved too much for the Hawks. Maier was consistent at the net all night long, and fittingly closed out the ninth match point with his final kill of the evening to earn his career high of 19.

The Brewers won the first set with relative ease, hitting .324 as a team and finding strength in a 15-5 run that built a 26-14 Vassar advantage and proved insurmountable for the Hawks. And in the third set Vassar broke open a 20-20 deadlock with a 10-4 run that captured the momentum heading into the fourth and final set.

Vassar senior John Kessenich (Chicago, IL/Richard Montgomery) put forth yet another monster game, recording a season-high 64 assists and adding 13 digs. Sophomore hitter Evan Fredericksen (Menlo Park, CA/Menlo Atherton) finished with 15 kills, and senior Scott Leserman (Manhattan Beach, CA/Mira Costa) had 18 digs.