POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (October 14, 2014) – The Vassar College women's volleyball team travels to Rochester, NY this weekend for its third and final Liberty League weekend. The Brewers take on RIT and Skidmore on Friday evening, before facing off against Bard and Union on Saturday afternoon.
 
Game Details
Opponent: vs. Rochester Institute of Technology (13-10, 2-2 Liberty League)
Links: (RIT Women's Volleyball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Rochester, NY
Facility:  Clark Gym
Date: October 17, 2014
Time:  4 p.m.
 
Opponent: vs. Skidmore College (5-17, 1-3 LL)
Links: (Skidmore Women's Volleyball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Rochester, NY
Facility:  Clark Gym
Date: October 17, 2014
Time:  6 p.m.

Opponent: vs. Bard College (3-23, 0-8 LL)
Links: (Bard Women's Volleyball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Rochester, NY
Facility:  Clark Gym
Date: October 18, 2014
Time:  12 p.m.

Opponent: vs. Union College (17-7, 2-2 LL)
Links: (Union Women's Volleyball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Rochester, NY
Facility:  Clark Gym
Date: October 18, 2014
Time:  2 p.m.
 
What to Watch for
The Brewers are coming off a strong weekend at the Tom Hay Invitational, sweeping Westfield State and Smith College, while only losing to host Springfield College. This weekend's four matches mark the end of the conference slate. Currently Vassar is sitting in fifth place in the Liberty League, one spot out of a playoff berth, but if the Brewers are able to go either 3-1 or 4-0 this weekend, there's a good chance they may be able to pass either RIT or Union for that last playoff spot.
 
A Look at the Tigers (13-10, 2-2 LL)
RIT has had an up and down season thus far. After the first Liberty League weekend, hosted at Bard and Vassar, The Tigers went 1-2 at the Canton Classic, but followed that up with a strong performance at the Fredonia Blue Devil Invitational, going 3-1. There, RIT defeated Hilbert, Pittsburgh at Bradford, and Fredonia State, while only losing to Buffalo State. Since then, the Tigers have fallen to The College at Brockport in five sets, before getting swept by rival Rochester this past Friday.
 
The Tigers' game plan is pretty simple: they will look to sophomore outside hitter Sarah Szybist to put the ball away. Szybist has recorded 395 kills on 842 total attempts this season, nearly 300 more kills and 500 more attempts than the next-highest Tiger, and also is hitting a team-high .284. Fellow setters Laiz Novaes and Emma Dowdy split the setting duties for RIT, totaling 322 and 318 assists this season, respectively. On defense, middle hitter Kayla Wheeler leads the front row with 59 total blocks, while libero Bethany Davis paces the back court with 293 total digs.
 
Possible Starting Lineup: OH – Sarah Szybist, OH – Amy Van Hienen, OH – Abby Higgins, MH – Kayla Wheeler S- Laiz Novaes, S – Emma Dowdy, L – Bethany Davis
 
Against RIT All-Time
The Brewers are 9-14 against the Tigers in a series that dates back to 1989. Of the first twelve contests held between these two teams, RIT won eleven of them. In their last meeting, on Sept. 20, 2014, RIT defeated Vassar in four games. Before that, the Brewers had been on a four game win streak in the series.
 
A Look at the Thoroughbreds (2-12, 0-0 LL)
Skidmore has had a rough season coming into this weekend. After the second Liberty League weekend on Oct. 3-4, where the Thoroughbreds went 1-3, the team was swept by visiting Middlebury. This past weekend, however, Skidmore had a strong performance, defeating Lasell in three games and Bridgewater State in a five-set thriller on Friday, before falling to Susquehanna in three sets on Saturday.
 
The Thoroughbreds are led on offense by senior outside hitter Aria Goodman, who leads the team with 256 kills, 778 attempts, and a .193 hitting percentage. Goodman is followed by sophomore outside hitter Brittany Osborn with 198 total kills. Freshman setter Kalle Fox runs the offense for Skidmore, dishing out 625 assists so far this season. Defensively, Goodman leads the team with 28 total blocks, while sophomore libero Marcela Familiar-Bolanos paces the defense with 492 total digs, and is currently first in the Liberty League with 6.07 digs per set.
 
Potential Starting Lineup: OH – Aria Goodman, OH – Brittany Osborn, MH – Rachel Licata, H – Emma Bloom, H – Clara Jones, S – Kalle Fox, L – Marcela Familiar-Bolanos
 
Against Skidmore All-Time
Vassar currently leads the series 34-18, dating back to 1988. The two teams have played every year since then, except 1995. The longest winning streak in the series occurred when Vassar won eight straight between 2005 and 2007. Skidmore's last win in the series came on Oct. 12, 2012. In the last meeting on Oct. 3, 2014, Vassar defeated the Skidmore in four sets.
 
A Look at the Raptors (3-23, 0-8 LL)
Like Skidmore, Bard has just not found much success this season. After hosting the first Liberty League weekend, where they went 0-4, the Raptors traveled to Potsdam and Canton, NY for the second Liberty League weekend, where they again went 0-4, though the team did take a set off of Skidmore. From there, Bard hosted The Sage Colleges, losing in three sets. This past weekend, the Raptors hosted a tri-match, defeating CCNY in four games, before falling to Saint Joseph in four sets.
 
The Raptors have a relatively balanced attack this season, with three players having between 90 and 140 kills. Junior outside hitter Tytravia Riley leads the team with 140 kills. Riley is followed by the freshman duo of Philippine Alba and Lexi Akingbade, who have recorded 111 and 92 kills, respectively. Senior Lexi Cooper runs the offense, dishing out 332 assists. On defense, Riley paces the team with 37 total blocks, while Alba leads the backcourt with 224 digs on the season.
 
Possible Starting Lineup: OH – Philippine Alba, OH – Tytravia Riley, OH – Amy Kassowitz, MB – Lexi Akingbade, MB – Zoe Morgan-Weinman, S – Lexi Cooper, L – Daniella Azulai.
 
Against Bard All-Time
Vassar currently leads the series 16-0, dating back to 1988. The two teams have met nine times since 2009, with the Brewers winning 3-0 all but one. The last time Bard was able to take a set was Oct. 17, 2009. The last meeting was Sept. 19, 2014 at Bard, where Vassar came out on top in three sets.
 
A Look at the Dutchwomen (17-7, 2-2 LL)
Union College has had a strong season so far. At the second Liberty League weekend, the Dutchwomen went 2-2, defeating Bard and Vassar in three sets, before falling to St. Lawrence and Clarkson. From there, Union hosted Oneonta in a mid-week nonconference matchup, winning in four sets. This past weekend, the Dutchwomen hosted the Union Invitational, where the team defeated Bridgewater State and Lasell, but dropped a three-set match to Susquehanna.

Like Bard, the Dutchwomen have a balanced attack, with five players between 120 and 200 kills. Junior outside hitter Rachel Wyman leads the team with 199 total kills. Wyman is followed by outside hitter Kelley White and middle hitter Rajpreet Dhaliwal, with 177 and 148 kills, respectively. Fellow setters Amanda Price and Abigail Salamone split the setting duties, totaling 474 and 255 assists on the season. Middle hitters Lauren Woods and Morgan Clark pace the team with 80 and 71 total blocks. On defense, the Dutchwomen are led by sophomore libero Kat Moeller with 504 digs.
 
Potential Starting Lineup: OH – Rachel Wyman, OH - Kelley White, MH - Morgan Clark, MH - Lauren Woods, MH - Rajpreet Dhaliwal, S - Amanda Price, L - Kat Moeller.
 
Against Union All-Time
The Brewers and Dutchwomen have played each other 50 times in the all-time series, with Vassar currently leading the series 33-17. Union won the last three, including a 3-0 victory on Oct. 4, 2014, but prior to that, Vassar had won the previous six match-ups.
 
Block Party
Senior Clara Cardillo (San Francisco, CA/Bay School) is leading the team in blocks, averaging 0.65 per set. She has had five matches with over four blocks and four matches with three blocks. She also leads the team in hitting percentage with 0.200.
 
Tay Tay All Day
Taylor Mosley (Rowlett,TX/Parish Episcopal) is leading the team in both kills and aces. She has 233 kills on the season, averaging 2.84 kills per set. She is also first on the team and third in the Liberty League in aces, averaging 0.51 aces per set.
 
Digz
Libero Chloe Hallum (Olympia, WA/Olympia) is 74 digs away from being second in digs in a career. This would put her 563 digs away from breaking the digs in a career record of 2070, which is held by Amanda Hsiung.
 
Soph
Freshman Sophia Tiajoloff (Kinnelon, NJ/Kinnelon) has 556 assists on the season, averaging 6.95 assists per set. She has also been a force at the service line. She is second on the team and fourth in the Liberty League in aces, averaging 0.50 aces per set.
 
1000 Countdown
Taylor Mosley has had a very successful four years at Vassar. She is currently 97 kills away from reaching 1000 kills in a career. She went off last weekend getting 37 kills in three matches, putting away 17 balls in one match against Smith.
 
Big Pete Take a Seat
Senior Marie Pitre (San Dimas,CA/St. Lucy's Priory) has been a force for the Brewers this season. She has hit over .200 in nine matches and over .300 in six matches. She is second on the team in both kills and blocks per set, averaging 2.05 kills per set and 0.47 blocks per set.
 
Up Next
Vassar will travel to New Paltz, NY this week for non-conference action against their cross-river rival, SUNY New Paltz, on Wednesday October, 29th.