Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (September 8, 2012) – In a pair of matches that featured playoff intensity and aggressive play, the Vassar College women's volleyball team split its tri-match against Stevens Institute of Technology and New York University on Saturday at Kenyon Hall.

In the opener against Stevens, Vassar won a marathon match 3-1 (25-22, 30-32, 25-21, 25-21). The Brewers fell to NYU 3-1 (23-25, 25-22, 15-25, 18-25) in their second match.

Now 4-1 on the season, Vassar hits the road for the first time this season, when the Brewers travel to Williams College for a 7:00 pm match on Wednesday, September 12.

The victory over Stevens lasted more than two hours and featured 202 digs (100 by Vassar) in a grueling match. The Brewers, hard driving at the net, had 18 block assists in the match. Freshman libero Chloe Hallum had 39 alone, followed by 25 from junior hitter Jessie Ditmore. Against the Ducks, sophomore Taylor Mosley earned a new career high with 16 kills, followed by 15 from senior Chloe McGuire and 11 from Ditmore. Mosley also had a career-best 11 digs. Hilary Koenigs added 44 set assists.

Mosely and sophomore Clara Cardillo paced Vassar with 10 kills each against NYU. Hallum covered every angle of the court with 20 digs and Koenigs offered up 41 of Vassar's 42 assists.

Vassar broke free from Stevens in the first set, winning eight of the last 15 points when the score was tied 17-17. Hallum serving helped Vassar reel off seven straight points for a 24-18 lead and McGuire had a kill to close the set. The second set was a marathon affair, one that was tied 25-25 following a Ditmore kill.
Stevens got set closing kills from junior Mary Caulson to earn a hard-fought 32-30 win. There were 132 combined attack attempts in the second set alone and 399 for the match.

Vassar won the third and fourth sets by identical 25-21 scores. Each set was back-and-forth, with Vassar coming back from a 13-7 deficit in the third set and a 20-17 deficit in the fourth set, to win both. In the third, a Ditmore kill tied the match 20-20. McGuire and Mosley had big kills and Hallum served a big ace for a 2-1 Vassar lead. In the fourth, a Ditmore kill similarly tied the match at 20-20 and the Brewers capitalized on four Stevens miscues down the stretch to earn the 25-21 victory.

The NYU match saw the Violets take control after Vassar tied the match 1-1, with a flourish down the stretch in the second stanza. Tied 19-19, senior Brittany Stopa came alive for the Brewers with consecutive kills down the sideline for help Vassar surge ahead 23-19. Two punctuating cross court kills from sophomore Clara Cardillo through the NYU defense helped Vassar tie the match with a 25-22 win.

NYU swung the momentum and won the match with victories in the third and fourth sets. The Violets led by start to finish in each set, taking the third 25-16 thanks to a .400 attack percentage. The fourth set was similar in that NYU built a sizeable mid-set lead (19-13 at one stage), but Vassar did mount a comeback, coming within 19-16, forcing an NYU timeout. The Violets then won five of the next six points and closed out the match 25-18.