Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, MA (March 10, 2009) -- The Vassar men's volleyball team, ranked No. 8 nationally in the Bison/AVCA Men's Top 15 Poll, snagged the first set against No. 1 ranked Springfield 31-29, but the Pride showed their mettle by winning the next three straight sets 30-22, 30-20, 30-25 to defeat the Brewers 3-1 Tuesday night at Blake Arena.

Vassar, now 16-5, 5-2 on the season, will have a 14 day break before returning the action. The Brewers will next host New York University at Kenyon Hall on Tuesday, March 24 at 7:00 p.m.

The Brewers were led by junior Phil Tully (Huntington Station, NY/Walt Whitman) who had a match high 18 kills. Sophomore Evan Fredericksen (Menlo Park, CA/Menlo Atherton) had 13 kills. Senior John Kessenich (Chicago, IL/Richard Montgomery) had 47 assists, seven kills and three block assists. Fellow senior Scott Leserman (Mira Costa, CA/Mira Costa), the nation's leader in digs in Division III, had 16 in the match.

Senior Andy Sipe tallied 13 kills, hitting .579, and posted 13 blocks for the Pride. With the win, Springfield improved to to 11-6 on the season. Ryan Fredrickson posted 15 kills, hitting .303, to go along with 11 digs, while Cal Palumbo had 13 kills and added five blocks. Eric Shoemaker directed the Pride attack with 57 assists. Springfield returns to action when it hosts Quincy in a non-conference matchup on Thursday evening at 7:00 pm.

The first set started off back and forth as Springfield's Evin Giglio tallied a kill to make it a 10-all game. The Brewers then rattled off three-straight points, capped off by a double block from John Kessenich and senior Steve Micucci (Millis, MA/Millis), forcing the Pride to call a timeout. Vassar continued to pour on the pressure, opening up a seven-point lead at 23-16 after senior Brian Bacchi (Hicksville, NY/Hicksville) had a service ace. Springfield stormed back, using a 13-6 run to tie the game at 29-all. The Pride committed a service error on the following play to Vassar the game point, and Kessenich and Miccuci teammed up again for a block as Vassar took the opening frame, 31-29.

With the score tied at four in the second stanza, the Pride rattled off the next four points as Sipe tallied a kill and teammed up with Eric Shoemaker and Mark Ribeiro for a pair of blocks to take an 8-4 lead. Springfield used a Pete Manguiat ace to increase its lead to seven at 16-9 as the Pride's pressure kept the Brewers out of system and off balance. Springfield led by as many as eight in the frame and closed out the game on a Sipe kill to even the match at one game apiece. Vassar hit -.026 in the game as it was held to just nine kills, compared to Springfield's 16.

A three-point spurt after being knotted at seven gave Springfield a 10-7 lead in the third game that it would not relinquish. Hitting .371 in the stanza, the Pride held on for a 30-20 decisio.

In the fourth, a Pride attack error brought Vassar within one, 12-11 as neither team could gain more than a three-point advantage in the start. The Pride then captured the next three points as Palumbo and Manguiat sandwiched kills bewteen a Vassar attack error, forcing a Brewer timeout. Sipe's block was the difference down the stretch as he recorded six blocks in the frame to take the match.