Box Score
NEW YORK, NY (February 3, 2009) -- Junior Phil Tully (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman) collected a season-high 26 kills and hit .537 to lead the No. 5 ranked Vassar men's volleyball team to a 3-1 (30-25, 27-30, 30-24, 30-26) victory over No. 10 New York University Tuesday night at the Coles Center. The victory, Vassar's fourth straight, improves the Brewers to 4-2 on the season.
The victory sets up a big early seaon NECVA Metro Division match with No. 4 Stevens Institute of Technology (5-0) on Saturday afternoon in Hoboken, NJ.
Tully was certainly the headliner, closing out the match with two straight kills, a feat he orchestrated to win the third set, but he had an outstanding supporting cast. Three teammates all hit for double figures in kills. Sophomore Evan Fredericksen (Menlo Park, CA/Menlo Atherton) had 15 kills (15-3-30) on the evening and hit .400. Seniors Steve Micucci and Greg Maier, both natives of Millis, MA and graduates of Millis High School, had 14 and 12 kills each. That foursome benefitted from the outstanding set assists by senior John Kessenich (Chicago, IL/Richard Montgomery) who had 61 in the game and the defensive prowess of senior Scott Leserman (Manhattan Beach, CA/Mira Costa) who earned 18 digs on the evening.
NYU's Devin Zolnowski (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater-Raritan) led all players with 29 kills. Only one other Violets player earned double figures in kills, Fran Hodgson (Surf City, NJ/Southern Regional) had 11.
The Brewers defended the NYU attack well, limiting the Violets to attack percentages of .250 and .200 in the third and fourth sets, while hitting .429 and .421 in those same two sets en route to victory.
Vassar opened with a 30-25 first set victory and hit .425 in setting an early tone. But the Breweres could never gain enough momentum in the second set, dropping it 30-27.
Vassar played arguably its finest two sets of the season in the third and fourth, winning 30-24 and 30-26. In each, Vassar raced out to leads and kept NYU at bay. In the deciding set, the Brewers led from start to finish and although back-to-back kills from Zolnowski brought the Violets within 26-24, NYU made back-to-back errors and Tully had two resounding kills to end the match. In the deciding set, Vassar was aided by a building a pair of six point leads.
The third set appeared headed in NYU's favor, with the Brewers fighting to stay close. The set was tied six times, the last at 21-21 following an NYU kill by Zolnowski. Then the Brewers took control, winning nine of the following 13 points, highlighted by three kills from Tully, who won points 28 and 29 for Vassar. Much like the opening set, the Brewers were efficient in their attack game, registering 19 kills with only four errors on 34 attempts, a .441 attack percentage. NYU's attack, which began the set strongly, cooled down considerably and the Violets hit .250.
The second game started in Vassar's favor, with the Brewers jumping out to a 15-7 lead on a kill by Maier. A combination of attack errors and NYU's improved play up front helped the Violets draw even at 23-23, but the second set was tied only once more, at 24-24, and the Brewers never got back on top. NYU pushed ahead, 28-26, and although a service ace by Micucci drew Vassar within one point at 28-27, an NYU kill and a Vassar attack error evened the match at 1-1
The Brewers started set one fire, winning the first game on a .425 attack percentage garnering 22 kills on 40 attempts and only five errors.
