POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (March 4, 2014) – The Vassar College men's volleyball team will be heading to Annandale-on-Hudson, NY to face the Bard College Raptors in a United Volleyball Conference (UVC) match. The Brewers had a series of hard fought matches against strong teams this past week, playing No. 15 NYU, No. 2 Juniata, and No. 1 New Paltz. Having played such tough teams this past week, the Brewers are coming into the match on Wednesday prepared to battle against Bard.

Vassar College (4-14, 1-6 UVC)
(Vassar College Men's Volleyball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)

Game Details
Opponent: at Bard College (4-16, 1-6 UVC)
Links: (Bard College Men's Volleyball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Annandale-On-Hudson, NY
Facility:  Stevenson Athletic Center (500)
Date: March 4, 2014
Time: 7 p.m.
Game Coverage: (Live Video) (Live Stats)

What to Watch For
The Raptors are coming into today's match having won one of their first UVC matches, with their lone victory coming over Hilbert College (4-18) on February 9^th.  Vassar has a great chance to get a conference win against Bard this Wednesday, but it will be a good match. This is an important game for the Brewers because they are currently sitting at ninth place in the UVC, one spot away from making the playoffs. Losing to Bard would put them in tenth place in the UVC, lowering their chances of making the playoffs.

A Look at the Raptors (4-16, 1-6 UVC)
The Raptors are coming into this match at a very similar position to Vassar. They have comparable records in and out of conference, having four wins total on the season. Both teams had hard fought weekends against ranked opponents, so they are coming into the match ready to fight. The Bard Raptors are sitting in the bottom two or three spots of the UVC stats in almost every category, other than digs and service aces. In digs and service aces Bard is sitting in the middle of the pack, with 9.59 digs per set and 1.53 aces per set.

Looking at individuals, the only player who appears as a statistical leader in the UVC is senior setter, Henry Kasiske. He is currently eighth in the UVC in assists, delivering 7.20 assists per set. He is also sixth in the conference in service aces, averaging .41 aces per set. Offensively, the Raptors seem to be relying heavily on senior outside, Billy Williams. He currently has 528 attempts, which is almost two hundred more attempts than the player with the second most attempts, freshman middle blocker, Alex Adams, who has 348 attempts.

Projected Starters: MB – Alex Adams, OH – Billy Williams, OH – Jessie Small, RS – Shane McDonald, S - Henry Kasiske, L – Daniel Gagne.
 
Against Bard All-Time
Vassar College is coming into the match with a 13-0 all-time record against Bard, having won all every contest since 1989.

Short Handed
With only eight healthy players last Saturday, the Vassar men's volleyball had some position changes to make. The Brewers played all seven dressed players.

Hang Ten
Freshman Colin Peros (Honolulu, HI/Punahou) took over setting duties for the Brewers and recorded a total of 29 assists against Thiel College as well as a career-high 42 assists against No. 2 Juniata College. Peros finished the weekend with 21 digs and 110 assists across four matches.

Switch-A-Roo
Junior setter Colin White-Dzuro (Toronto, Ontario, Canada/Royal St. George) recorded 33 kills on the weekend as he changed position to take over for the team's injured hitters. On Saturday White-Dzuro barely missed a rare triple-double with 14 assists, 12 digs and eight kills against Thiel College.

On The Attack
Senior outside Joe Pyne (Los Angeles, CA/Oakwood Secondary) added 21 kills and 11 digs on the day. Freshman libero Trey Cimorelli (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) posted match-best 13 and 12 digs against Thiel and Juniata respectively.

Say Hey Trey
Day two of last weekend's tournament saw Pyne on the bench with an injury as well. Cimorelli made his debut as a hitter, playing all the way around for the Brewers, stepping out of his role as libero. Cimorelli recorded 9 kills on the day with a .231 percentage against No. 1 New Paltz.

Krizly Adams
Sophomore hitter Reno Kriz (Breinigsville, PA/Parkland) recorded 14 kills and two service aces against New Paltz. Kriz now has a season total of 257 kills for an average of 3.89 kills per set, and holds his third place conference ranking in kills.

Getting Close
Despite having taken a set each off of No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams New Paltz and Juniata, the Brewers saw no wins on the weekend, bumping their record to 4-14 overall.

Up Next
The Brewers travel to Elmira this weekend (Mar 8) for a two-day UVC tournament against Madaille College, Penn St.-Behrend, and Hilbert College.