BARUCH BOX

JWU BOX

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (March 30, 2012) – Volleyball is half way to winning its own tournament, starting the Vassar Invitational with two wins, 3-1 (25-14, 25-17, 24-26, 25-21) over #15 Baruch and 3-0 (25-16, 25-19, 25-21) over Johnson & Wales.

The Brewers' tournament play resumes on Saturday March 31^st at 10:00 AM, when Vassar takes on Newbury College and then #3 Springfield at 4:00 PM, a match that likely will decide the tournament champion.

In the first match of the day the #10 Brewers squared off against the #15 Bearcats of Baruch College. The match began as a bit of a blowout with Vassar taking the first two sets 25-14 and 25-17. The next two would prove very different, Baruch coming back to eke out a 26-24 in the third before the Brewers won a hotly contested fourth 25-21 to take the match 3-1. Matt Elgin led Vassar with a match-high 18 kills and only two errors on 29 swings to hit a blazing .529.

Complete detail of the Vassar Invitational can be found on the tournament page.

The Brewers were positively dominant to begin the match, piling up impressive numbers across the board. They would amass 26 kills while hitting .326, dig 26 balls and block four in the first two sets. Elgin was particularly impressive, notching nine kills without an error.

The third set featured Baruch breaking out offensively, posting 19 kills - a match high – while hitting .350, while Vassar's production ebbed.  It was the only set that the Bearcats led statistically, despite  Charlie Caldwell's five points - four kills and a block.

In the deciding fourth set, after breaking a 3-3 tie Vassar would never trail again, Baruch only getting within one twice down the stretch.  Elgin picked up eight more points, with six kills and two blocks, while Joe Pyne had four – an ace and three kills.

Christian La Du and Patrick Donohue posted match-high defensive stats with 15 digs and six blocks respectively. Donohue added nine kills while hitting .438. Caldwell would total 12 kills for the match and John Konow would total 44 assists on the way to a .302 team hitting percentage. The Bearcats were led by Steven Coniglio's 14 kills.

In the nightcap Vassar faced the Wildcats of Johnson and Wales University (JWU) with a chance to join Springfield as the only other 2-0 team in the tournament. It seemed the long break between matches left the Brewers a little sluggish in the early goings, but after they erased an early Wildcats lead with the help of Joe Pyne's hot hand on the outside the Brewer defense took over, holding JWU to a negative .138 hitting percentage for the set. Vassar led by as many as ten (21-11) and closed out the set 25-16. Matt Elgin picked up where he left off from the first match notching eight points on six kills and two blocks.

JWU came out unfazed form the first set beating, showing life on both offense and defense. The Brewers were up the challenge, however, and quickly settled back into their own offensive rhythm, steadily building a lead until up by six at 19-13. The Wildcats would mount a late challenge, but Vassar would never lose control of the set, finishing at 25-19. At the end of the second set, Vassar held a 28-18 advantage in kills. Patrick Donohue came up big for the Brewers, leading with four kills and putting up a wall that produced two solo blocks and three assists.

After giving up the first point of the set, Vassar then led the rest of the way, extending the lead to five twice on the way to a 25-21 win. It was Pyne's turn to get hot, earning five (of his match-high 12) kills and an ace for six points in the set.

La Du once more led all players on defense with 13 digs while Konow added another 29 set assist to his day's total.

Shawn Kennedy stood out for JWU, with 10 kills and a .381 hitting percentage.