NAZARETH BOX

MEDAILLE BOX

HOBOKEN, NJ (February 11, 2012) --

Vassar men's volleyball - ranked #11 in the most recent ACVA Coaches Poll - split their opening matches at the first UVC Crossover hosted this weekend by Stevens Institute. After a heartbreaking five set loss to #6 Nazareth, the Brewers bounced back with a convincing sweep of #10 Medaille. Vassar is now 3-3 overall and 1-2 in conference.

All the teams are in action tomorrow, with Nazareth playing NYU at 10 AM and SUNY New Paltz at 2 PM; Medaille, who suffered a loss to NYU earlier today, will play SUNY IT at 1 PM; while Vassar with finish up the weekend against Elmira at 1 PM. 

In the first match of the day, a huge comeback bid by the Vassar College men's volleyball team fell just short, losing to defending national champion Nazareth College 2-3. After trailing two sets to none and winning two sets of their own to force the deciding frame, the No. 11 Brewers pushed the No. 6 Golden Flyers to extra points before succumbing 16-18 in the fifth. The complete scores were 22-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-21,16-18.

In what had to be a tough start to a very important conference weekend - one where the Brewers face the top three teams in the UVC's West Division - the bid for a comeback was agonizingly close, with the five sets being decided by only 13 total points. Vassar was led by Junior Matt Elgin's 21 kills - a career high - and .417 hitting percentage. He also chipped in five of the Brewer's 11 blocks. His previous high kill mark of 18 came against New Paltz in 2010. Junior John Konow notched his first double-double of the season - and ninth of his career - with 45 assists and 10 digs. Junior Libero Christian La Du led the team with 11 digs while sophomore Joe Pyne was also in double figures in digs with 10. Nazareth totaled 68 kills to Vassar's 50, with four players in double figures.

In their second match, the Brewers returned with a vengeance, sweeping the Mavericks in convincing fashion 25-19, 25-13 and 25-20. Elgin once again led the Brewer attack, racking up a match-high 11 kills with only 2 errors on 18 attempts for a blazing .500 hitting percentage. Pyne followed closely with 10 kills, part of an efficient offense that hit .325 for the match. It was orchestrated by Konow, who added another 31 assists to his total. The Vassar defense stifled the Medaille attack, allowing only 28 kills and holding them to a .145 attack percentage.

The webpage for the UVC Crossover can be found here.