Box Score

                  POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (January 29, 2014) – The Vassar College men's volleyball team held a 2-1 advantage after three games and rallied late in the fifth, but couldn't pull the upset as No. 4 New Paltz earned an exciting 3-2 win over the Brewers in the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) opener for both teams. NP won with scores of 21-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-16 and 15-13.

                  The Brewers (0-2, 0-1 UVC) opened the match with a stifling defensive effort in the first set, holding the Hawks to a negative hitting percentage. VC posted a side-out percentage of 72 percent in the opening stanza, and got six kills from Reno Kriz (Breinigsville, PA/Parkland) to chalk up an early 1-0 match lead.

                  The visiting Hawks (5-0, 1-0 UVC) responded by posting a hitting clip of 18-3-34 in game two, swinging at a .441 percentage, to knot the score at one set apiece. After trailing for the entire set, VC rallied to even the game at 23, but kills from Christopher Husmann and John Lutjen secured the set for New Paltz.

                  Vassar College would regain its one-set lead in the third game, as VC's defense again was stellar, holding NP under .200 on its attacking. With the score 14-11 in favor of the visitors, Vassar rattled off a 6-1 run to take a 17-15 lead. The Brewers maintained their lead, and despite the Hawks clawing to within one at 23-22, were able to post a 25-23 win thanks to a game-clinching kill from Christian Lizana (Dublin, PA/Pennridge).

                  The fourth set would be all New Paltz, as it committed just one error during the set on 26 attempts. The Hawks also held strong on serve receive in the fourth, siding out at a game-high 76 percent in the stanza.

                  The deciding fifth set saw multiple runs, starting with a 5-0 Hawk spurt to start the game. Vassar rallied after a timeout to cut the lead to 5-4, but following a New Paltz timeout, the Hawks posted six of the game's next seven points to take an 11-5 lead.

                  Despite the score, the scrappy Brewers wouldn't quit, as VC earned five straight points with Colin Peros (Honolulu, HI/Punahou) serving to deadlock the set at 13 apiece. In the end, New Paltz would capture the match of Hudson Valley rivals thanks to picking up the final two points.

                  Kriz finished with a match-high of 20 kills, adding seven digs and two assisted blocks to his ledger. The sophomore tied his career-high Wednesday, set last year against Rivier College. Senior Joe Pyne (Los Angeles, CA/Oakwood Secondary) hit .345 on the night, chalking up a 13-3-29 line, also posting six digs and two aces.

                  Sophomore middle hitter Erik Halberg (Newark, DE/Salesianum School) finished with six kills and a pair of blocks, while fellow middle Lizana had six kills and two blocks. Setter Colin White-Dzuro (Toronto, Ontario, Canada/Royal St. George) had 42 assists and six digs, and Trey Cimorelli (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) finished with a team-leading 13 digs. Junior Colin Fearn-Johnson (Honolulu, HI/Punahou) also dug up 10 New Paltz attacks for VC, which finished with a .216 hitting percentage (51-22-134) on the night.

                  New Paltz was paced by preseason All-American Tim Ferriter and his team-bests of 19 kills and 13 digs. Steven Woessner finished with 10 kills and eight total blocks, and Christian Smith added seven kills, 40 assists, eight digs and five assisted rejections. NP registered 62 kills on 146 swings, finishing with 25 errors (.252).

                  The Brewers will return to Kenyon Hall this Saturday afternoon for a tri-match, entertaining Elms College at 1 p.m. and Ramapo College at 5 p.m. in non-conference play.