BOX SCORE

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (March 21, 2012) - The men's volleyball showed poise and determination in a 3-0 victory over a scrappy and determind SUNY New Paltz team.  The match held conference playoff implications and the Brewers played best when they needed it most, winning by scores of 25-22, 25-23, 25-21. Setter John Konow was impressive in the win, orchestrating a balanced attack - six different players with five or more kills - on the way to a .289 team hitting percentage and 41 assists. 

Vassar is now 11-7 overall and 6-4 in conference. They travel to Beverly, MA this weekend for the Endicott Invitational March 24-45. Tournament inforamtion - including LiveStats - can be found on the tournament page. New Paltz drops to 12-6 and will also be at the Endicott Tournament.

The match began with both teams clicking on offense, the visitors racking up 15 kills and the hosts 19 in the first set. New Paltz led for most of the middle of the set, but was never able to get more than two points ahead, and after Vassar took their first lead at 17-16, on the strength of three consecutive kills from sophomore outside hitter Joe Pyne, they never trailed again. The Brewers led by as many as four, but the Hawks got within one at 23-22, but after a side-out forced New Paltz into their final time-out, Lucas Rathjens closed out the set with a service ace, giving Vassar the 25-22 win. Pyne led the way for the Brewers, knocking down seven kills in the set as part of an impressive .357 team attack.

The second set was more of a see-saw affair, with the teams each holding small leads but neither able to gain a significant edge. After back-back kills from freshman Colin Fearn-Johnson, and with the help of consecutive attack errors from the Hawks, Vassar found itself up 21-19 with New Paltz calling a time-out. After a stuff block and a dump kill from Konow, the Brewers seemed poised, at 23-21, to take two sets to none lead. But the Hawks were not ready to give in and after a four point run, it was anybody's set 23-23. Coach Wolter showed trust in his young line-up, however, foregoing a time-out of his own and letting them respond. And respond they did, two quick kills on the outside giving them the 25-23 win and a 2-0 lead. Charlie Caldwell had six of his match-high 13 kills in the frame.

Vassar looked like it was going to run away with the third set and complete the sweep, jumping out to an early lead and leading by as many as five. As in the second set, however, a scrappy New Paltz squad would not go away quietly and after an impressive five point run that featured four straight kills, they were able to tie it 19-19. The Brewers' poise once again was on display, though, they reasserted themselves at the net – two kills from Caldwell and a big solo block from Patrick Donohue, his third – to get back in control at 24-21. As in the first set, an ace would put the set away, this time from Colin White-Dzuro, completing a Vassar sweep. As more evidence of the match's balanced offense, it was Luke Sobieraj taking the lead in the final set with five.

Rathjens led the team in blocks with three, and both Konow and Sobieraj picked up 13 digs. New Paltz was led by MIke Van Tyne and Brian Smith, each with 11 kills.