Box Score

CAMBRIDGE, MA (April 3, 2009) – The Vassar men's volleyball team took one big step toward defending its 2008 North East Conference Volleyball Association (NEVCA) title on Friday night with a sweep of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the opening round of the Conference Championships being held at MIT. The No. 6 seeded Brewers swept past the No. 11 Engineers 3-0 (31-29, 30-26, 30-24) to advance a Saturday quarterfinal match against No. 3 Ramapo College at 1:00 p.m. 

The Brewers (18-7) will face the Roadrunners, a 3-1 winner over No. 14 Elms College (30-15, 28-30, 30-18, 30-25) in one of four quarterfinal matches. Semifinal play begins at 4:00 p.m. with the NECVA Championship match played on Sunday, April 5 at 1:00 p.m  Vassar lost to Ramapo 2-1 (30-28, 23-30, 24-30, 20-30) earlier in the season.

The Brewers, who hit progressively better as the match wore on, were led by junior hitter Phil Tully with 22 kills and a .391 attack percentage. In 46 attempts, Tully had only four errors for a .391 hitting percentage. His effectiveness was outdone by senior middle hitter Steve Micucci who hit .769, landing 10 kills on 13 attempts without a single error. Senior outside hitter Brian Bacchi was equally efficient against MIT, garnering 10 kills on 16 attempts with one error, a .562 effort. Sophomore outside hitter Evan Fredericksen had 13 kills. The architect of a team .338 attack percentage -- .500 in the third set – was senior setter John Kessenich who dished out 53 set assists and had seven digs. Senior libero Scott Leserman, who leads the nation in digs, had 18 in the match. 

MIT got a 12 kill performance from Soctt Pollom and nine from Malcolm Bean. Tim Lee had 33 set assists and Eric Reuland added 11 digs. MIT concludes its season at 25-12. 

The first set was tight, featuring 11 ties and action that was furious. While a Fredericksen ace closed out the set for a 31-29 win, the Engineers fought back from a 29-27 match point by forcing the Brewers into successive attack errors. MIT had built a 16-13 lead following a kill by Michael Dennyttenaere only to watch the Brewers win the next five points for an 18-13. The set traded hands several times before a Fredericksen kill pushed the Brewers ahead 28-26. The hard-hitting Fredericksen had seven of his 13 kills in this opening set and hit .385 in the process. Bacchi and Tully each had four kills. 

Momentum carried the Brewers in the next two sets, where MIT was able to hang in the match, but never secure a lead. While the Engineers broke out to an early 8-5 advantage after a kill from Pollom, the Brewers tied the match at 12-12 following an attack error and never looked back. MIT was able to close the gap to three points at 24-21 and two points and 26-24 and 27-25, but Tully had two straight kills to ease MIT back. Tully concluded the set with a kill for the 30-26 win. Hey had eight kills and a .364 hitting percentage in the second set. 

In the third and deciding set, the Brewers never trailed and MIT was unable to tie the match. The closest the Engineers came was early in the set, trailing 3-2. A kill by Bacchi pushed Vassar ahead 23-15, its largest margin, and from that point never allowed MIT closer than six points, the final margin of victory. The second set was Tully's turn to shine, powering eight kills on 22 attempts, a .364 attack percentage. Fredericksen contributed four kills.