St. Lawrence Box Score
Clarkson Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (September 24, 2011) – The Vassar College women's volleyball team split its two matches in Liberty League play on Saturday, defeating St. Lawrence in five sets 3-2 (25-13, 25-14, 22-25, 21-25, 15-11) and losing to unbeaten Clarkson 3-1 (24-26, 16-25, 28-26, 22-25).

The Brewers are now 8-5, 2-1 and will return to Liberty League play on Wednesday, September 28 with an away contest at Bard starting at 7:00 p.m.

Vassar def. St. Lawrence 3-2 (25-13, 25-14, 22-25, 21-25, 15-11)
In their first match, the Brewers defeated St. Lawrence with a strong all-around performance. The Saints came into the match on a two game winning streak and undefeated in away contests, but Vassar took control early, winning the first two sets before sealing the victory in the fifth.

The Brewers were led by sophomore hitter Jessie Ditmore, who had a career-high 18 kills and tied a career-high with 17 digs. Freshman hitter Marie Pitre added to her stellar rookie campaign with 3 service aces, equaling her highest total. Junior hitter Chloe McGuire contributed 9 kills and a season-high 5 service aces, while senior hitter Amy Bavosa (11 kills, 15 digs) continued to be a standout for Vassar.
In the first set, Vassar jumped out to an early 6-1 behind the serving of McGuire. A kill by Ditmore gave Vassar a 12-point lead at 22-10, before sophomore libero Aoife Feighery had back-to-back aces to close out the set 25-13.

After a back-and-forth start in the second set, the Brewers found their rhythm, going on a 13-4 run for a commanding 20-10 lead. Bolstered by junior setter Hilary Koenigs, who had 43 of the team's 46 assists in the match, Vassar took the second set, 25-14. The total gives Koenigs over 2,500 set assists for her career.

The Saints (10-8), however, refused to give up and came back to take the third and fourth sets, 25-22 and 25-21. Nyasha Miller led the fight for St. Lawrence with a team-high 12 kills, while Katherine Pierce was terrific defensively with a match-high 25 digs.

McGuire took control of a tightly contested fifth set with three-straight service aces to clinch the set, 15-11, and put an exclamation point on the Brewer victory.

Clarkson def. Vassar 3-1 (24-26, 16-25, 28-26, 22-25)
In the second match against Clarkson, the Brewers fell to the undefeated (17-0, 4-0) Golden Knights in four hard-fought sets.

Vassar led 19-16 in the opening set, when a furious Clarkson rally evened the score at 23-23. The Brewers continued to battle, but were edged out by two points, 26-24.

After dropping the second set 25-16, the Brewers found themselves trailing 22-14 in the third. Vassar refused to quit, however, and came back to tie the set 23-23. Energized by a 7-0 surge on the serving of Koenigs, Vassar seized the momentum and won a thrilling third set, 28-26.

The fourth set began much as the third set had, and the Brewers fell behind 16-22. Once again though, as they had done throughout the match, Vassar mounted a comeback. They staged another rally, but ultimately could not quite hold off the league-leading Golden Knights, who won the set 25-22 to end the match.

Vassar was led by Bavosa with 13 kills. Koenigs had 30 assists.

Clarkson got a 15 kill match from Sara Artus and 14 kills from Becca Brabec. Lani Durio had a match-high 41 set assits. Erika Chin had 23 digs.