Sage Box Score
Rochester Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (October 30, 2009) – The Vassar women's volleyball team improved to 19-7 on the season with a pair of wins in opening round play of the annual Vassar Invitational on Friday night. In the opening match, the Brewers swept past Sage College 3-0, but the second match wasn't as smooth. Vassar had to come back against Rochester after falling behind 2-1 for a dramatic 3-2 victory. 

Tournament Results

Vassar def. Rochester 3-2 (14-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-16, 15-13)
After falling behind 2-1 after the first three sets, the resilient Brewers battled back in the fourth set to earn a hard-fought 25-16 win. Vassar held an 18-15 lead in the set before winning seven of the final eight points behind two kills by freshman Chloe McGuire kills and senior Tess Johnson.

Vassar's fourth set win set up a thrilling final set. In the fifth set, the Brewers started fast behind the serves of freshman Hannah Cassius and built a quick 6-0 lead. In the run, freshman Hillary Koenigs had two solo blocks and an assist, one of her team-high 31. The Yellow Jackets battled back, however and following two kills each from Alma Guevara and Kelly Mulreys cut the Vassar lead to 10-9. As the match approached its conclusion the two sides traded points.

Vassar raised its lead to 11-9 following a Rochester error, but the visitors responded with Guevara's third kill of the set. On the ensuing serve, Guevara committed an error, extending the Vassar lead back to two, 12-10. Rochester narrowed the margin back to one, following a four hits violation on Vassar. With a narrow 12-11 lead, Vassar senior Sarah Potts came streaking down the middle and knocked home one of her eight kills off a Koenigs assist to extend the Vassar lead back to two.

Rochester cut the deficit to one, finishing off a nice assist from Rachel Bender, who had 46 in the match. With the narrowest of leads, VC's McGuire placed a shot along the left sideline off another Koenigs assist to give the Brewers a match point. Another Mulrey kill following a set from Bender cut the Brewer lead to one, 14-13. With the match reaching its conclusion, Vassar senior Jasmine Iskander made a diving dig, passing the ball perfectly to Koenigs whose set found sophomore Amy Bavosa for the match-ending kill.

The Brewers trailed 2-1 following a first game that saw the Yellow Jackets jump out to a 4-3 lead. Vassar kept the game close trailing just 13-10 prior to a six point Rochester run, which saw them extend their lead to 19-10. Casey Larsen had two kills in the run, which put the game out of reach for Vassar.

The second game saw an impressive Brewers comeback. The Yellow Jackets led 16-10 before a five point Vassar run cut Rochester's lead to just one. McGuire had three kills in the run two of them off Koenigs' assists. Rochester responded with two points of their own, extending their lead to 18-15 before another Vassar run gave the Brewers a 19-18 lead. The teams traded points with the set eventually tied at 20, but two Rochester attack errors established a 22-20 Vassar lead. The two teams traded points for the rest of the set, which saw McGuire tie the match at one, with a perfectly placed ball in the right corner off a Koenigs assist.

The third set saw a 9-7 Vassar lead evaporated by a 5-0 Rochester run, which featured two assists from Bender and one of her team high four aces. The 5-0 run was part of a stretch, which saw the Yellow Jackets win eight of nine points, extending their lead to 15-10. Vassar battled back to cut the lead to 18-17 off of two McGuire aces, but Rochester responded taking a 21-17 lead, which they held for a 25-21 win.
Chloe McGuire led the Brewers with a career-high 21 digs. Junior Chelsea Mottern contributed 20 for the Brewers, while Iskander added 14. The Yellow Jackets were led by Mulrey with a match high 26 digs.

Vassar def Sage College 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-19)
Vassar scored seven of the match's first eight points, and despite several runs by a resilient Sage team, the Brewers maintained that momentum for the 3-0 sweep. After Vassar jumped out to a 21-10 lead in the first game, Sage cut the deficit to 22-15 before sophomore Amy Bavosa earned the last three kills to give Vassar a 25-18 game one win. Sage had a 10-8 lead in game two, but Vassar again put the pressure on, going on a 10-2 run to open up a six-point lead that it would ride to the 25-19 victory.

Sage tested Vassar even more to start the third game, getting kills from five different players to take a 16-12 lead. But Vassar rallied for its biggest comeback of the day to hold off the Gators and prevent a fourth game. The Brewers tallied six straight points off the service of Sarah Strange, three of which were kills by McGuire and Vassar finished on a 13-3 run to complete the sweep.

McGuire led the potent Brewers offense with 15 kills and eight digs, while Bavosa provided 10 kills while committing only one attack error. Junior defensive specialist Mottern had 25 digs, and Koenigs had 36 set assists.

Sage was led by Nicole Corbett's eight kills and three blocks. Kristyn Buonincontra had 26 assists and 11 digs, and Kelsey Wilson added 14 digs.