Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (January 10, 2010) – The No. 9 nationally ranked Vassar men's volleyball team served notice on Friday afternoon against No. 3 ranked Springfield College that despite its youth, the Brewers will be a force to be reckoned with as the 2010 season evolves. Although the Pride earned a 3-1 (30-16, 30-27, 27-30, 30-24) victory over the Brewers at a raucous Kenyon Hall, the match was clearly a powerful contest between two teams that have designs toward a national championship in April. 

The Brewers, who improved every facet of their performance as the match wore on, even their record at 1-1, and will next travel to SUNY New Paltz on January 27 for a 7:00 p.m. match. The Pride, after losing their first two matches against national powers UC Santa Cruz and Cal Baptist, improve to 1-2 and will host Penn State on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. 

Springfield opened the match with a fury, dominating Vassar in the opening set in a 30-16 win. The Pride could do little wrong in hitting .344 compared to .024 for the Brewers, but once Vassar settled down, the match became a hard-fought slugfest with 118 total kills on 326 attack attempts. 

After shaking off a sluggish start and a fierce Springfield opening set, the Brewers rebounded in the second set to tie the match at 9-9, but the Pride was bolstered by a six kill set from senior outside hitter Alex Harrison who kept the visitors ahead from that point on. Vassar junior hitter Evan Fredericksen equaled Harrison's performance with six kills and was aided by four kills each from senior hitter Phil Tully and freshman hitter Matthew Elgin, but Vassar's 11 attack errors enabled Springfield to withstand a comeback that saw the Brewers draw within 26-25 following a kill by Elgin, but never able to get over the hump. Down the stretch kills by Springfield's senior outside hitter AJ Nally and junior middle block Cal Palumbo gave the Pride a 2-0 match lead. 

Vassar played its best overall set in taking the third 30-27. The Brewers broke out fast, taking a 10-3 lead, built that margin to 17-10 before the Pride made the set interesting by getting within three points, 26-23, following a kill by sophomore outside hitter Jeff Gutmann. Despite immense pressure from the Pride, the Brewers did not wilt, getting another six kills from Fredericksen and four each from Tully and Elgin. Vassar's 28th and 29th points of the set, integral to the victory, were produced by freshman setter John Konow who recorded back-to-back points on a pair of nicely executed dink kills into an open space on the Springfield side. A Tully kill earned Vassar the set in just the right time as Springfield's Alex Harrison got hot late, earned four kills on nine attempts without an error. Nally had four kills and Palumbo three in a set where each team had seven attack errors. 

The deciding set featured three early ties, the last being 10-10. The Pride then went on a 9-2 run with Harrison serving, and were only halted by a Konow kill that brought Vassar back into the set at 19-13. A Springfield attack error closed the match at 24-21 in the visitor's favor and Harrison's five kills with a single error on 10 attempts proved the difference in the 30-24 victory. 

The first set was a 30-16 Springfield win as junior opposite Alberto Bravo had five kills on seven attempts without an error. The Pride opened the match with a 7-1 lead, built it to 25-13 and cruised from that point. 

Vassar was paced by Fredericksen with 17 kills, followed by Tully's 10 and Elgin's nine. Konow had 43 set assists and senior Andres Posada had a career-best 16 digs. Tully had 13 digs and Konow 12. 

Springfield had three players reach double figures in kills led by Nally with 20, Harrison with 18 and Palumbo's 11. Senior setter Eric Shoemaker had a match-high 57 set assists, while Harrison was strong defensively with 14 digs followed by Gutmann with 13.