Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Vassar vs. NYU-Poly Box Score

Vassar vs. Nazareth Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (March 29, 2013) – The Vassar College men's volleyball team split a pair of matches Friday evening to open the Vassar Invitational at the Athletics and Fitness Center. The 10th-ranked Brewers swept NYU-Poly 25-10, 25-14, 25-12 before falling in a terrific four-set battle to unbeaten and top-ranked Nazareth. The Golden Flyers took the nightcap 25-23, 20-25, 25-22, 25-22.

Senior middle hitter Dave de la Torre finished with a career-high seven kills and four service aces without an error in the sweep win over NYU-Poly; senior middle hitter Patrick Donohue also knocked down seven errorless kills against the Fighting Blue Jays. Sophomore setter Colin White-Dzuro handed out 17 assists while senior setter John Konow recorded 13 assists. Freshman right side Reno Kriz set a career high in service aces with five.

Michael Roche finished with four kills for NYU-Poly. Vassar out-hit the visitors .433 to -.140 with a 14-1 victory in the aces column.

The Brewers knew they had a much tougher challenge awaiting them in the nightcap in the form of United Volleyball Conference regular season champions Nazareth, the #1 team in the AVCA Division III Coaches Poll. Although Vassar fought back from a dropped first set to win the second set 25-20, the Golden Flyers did just enough over the last two sets to hold off the Brewers in front of a raucous partisan crowd.

Junior outside hitter Joe Pyne paced Vassar with a 15-kill, 12-dig double-double, his fourth of the season, while senior middle hitter Matt Elgin contributed 11 kills to the Vassar cause. Konow also reached double-double status with 36 assists and 10 digs; senior Christian La Du tied Pyne for the team high with 12 digs. Elgin and Pyne finished with four blocks apiece.

Tim Zyburt led Nazareth to the win with 15 kills, six digs and five blocks. Grant Levermore and Robert Kraft added 14 kills apiece while EJ Wells-Spicer (51 assists, nine digs) and Luke Lawatsch (nine kills, eight blocks) also put in solid work for the Golden Flyers. Nazareth improved to 30-0 on the season while Vassar is now 18-8 after the split. The match did not count in the UVC standings.

The Vassar Invitational concludes tomorrow at the Athletics and Fitness Center; the Brewers take on Lancaster Bible at 11:00 am and sixth-ranked UVC rival New Paltz at 3:00 pm. The match with New Paltz will also be a non-conference affair. Live Stats for Vassar's matches as well as the 1:00 pm tilt between Nazareth and New Paltz will be available at VassarAthletics.com.