POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (September 2, 2014) -- The Vassar College women's volleyball team will play hosts this weekend, as four teams come to the Athletics and Fitness Center for the 2014 Vassar College Invitational. VC will welcome in MIT, Mount Saint Vincent, Ramapo and New Paltz into town over the 10-match affair, taking place Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.

Tournament Website 

Game Details
Opponent: vs. MIT (4-0)
Links: (MIT's Women's Volleyball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Poughkeepsie, NY
Facility:  Athletics and Fitness Center (1,500)
Date: September 5, 2014
Time:  6 p.m.
Game Coverage: (Live Video) (Live Stats)

Opponent: vs. Mount Saint Vincent (0-0)
Links: (Mount Saint Vincent 's Women's Volleyball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Poughkeepsie, NY
Facility:  Athletics and Fitness Center (1,500)
Date: September 5, 2014
Time:  8 p.m.
Game Coverage: (Live Video) (Live Stats)
 
Game Details
Opponent: vs. Ramapo (3-1)
Links: (Ramapo Women's Volleyball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Poughkeepsie, NY
Facility:  Athletics and Fitness Center (1,500)
Date: September 6, 2014
Time:  11 a.m.
Game Coverage: (Live Video) (Live Stats)

Opponent: vs. New Paltz (2-2)
Links: (New Paltz  Women's Volleyball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Poughkeepsie, NY
Facility:  Athletics and Fitness Center (1,500)
Date: September 6, 2014
Time:  3 p.m..
Game Coverage: (Live Video) (Live Stats)

What To Watch For
The Brewer offense has been balanced so far this season with a majority of the front row players ranging from 40 to 60 attempts per set. The leading hitter is senior Taylor Mosley (Rowlett,TX/Parish Episcopal), who has had 67 attempts, but the ball has been pretty well spread pin-to-pin. Vassar played a hard fought match against SUNY Cortland on Monday and is hoping to learn from that match to improve on their weaknesses for this weekend.

A Look at the Engineers (4-0)
MIT has started off their season strong, going 4-0 at the Regis Pride Invitational. The Engineers opened the weekend by defeating Gordon College in four sets, and then swept Eastern Nazarene College and Pride College in three. MIT concluded the tournament by shutting out Gordon, 25-9, 25-12, 25-15, in the championship match.

Two players to look for are sophomore Megan Gebhard and Alli Davanzo. Gebhard led MIT with 11 kills and a .364 hitting percentage against Gordon, while Davanzo had 10 kills, hit .571, and earned two blocks in her college debut. Gebhard was voted the Tournament MVP and Davanzo represented MIT on the All-Tournament Team.

Potential Starting Lineup: S – Nicole Gagnier, OH – Megan Gebhard, MH – Alli Davanzo, MH – Morgan Stewart, OH – Jennie Glerum, OH – Jenny Astrachan, L – Lisette Tellez.

Against MIT All-Time
The Brewers have only faced MIT five times in the past, having an all-time record of 1-4. The one win came last year at the Vassar Invitational when the team took down MIT in four sets. 

A Look at the Dolphins (0-0)
This weekend will be the first matches of the season for Mount Saint Vincent. They finished the 2013 season 8-18 overall and 6-3 in the Skyline Conference. The dolphins are starting off the year with a new coach, Alyessa Kaufman, who is excited to join the program.

Two players to look for are junior Ashleigh Scozzari and sophomore Maria Leineweber. Scozzari was named Skyline Conference Rookie of the Year and just this past season was a First Team All-Skyline Conference selection. In 2013 Scozzari finished second on the team in kills with 182, points with 217.5 and total blocks with 33, while leading the team in kills per set with 3.03 and total blocks per set with 0.55. Leineweber received Second Team honors for the 2013 leading the Dolphins in kills with 210, points with 279.5 and total blocks with 34.

Strong Returners: MH – Ashleigh Scozzari, MH/OH – Maria Leinweber, S/RS – Zana Daluz

Against Mount Saint Vincent All-Time
The Brewers have only faced the visiting Dolphins one time in the past, besting the visiting Dolphins in three sets, giving Vassar a 1-0 all-time record.

A Look at the Roadrunners (3-1)
The Roadrunners started off their season with a bang, finishing 3-1 at the 12^th Annual Greyhound Premiere Invitational. Their only loss came from a hard-fought battle against Marymount, losing in the fifth set 15-11. Ramapo College has been picked to finish fifth overall in the 2014 NJAC Women's Volleyball Preseason poll.

Freshman Larysa Iwaski is someone to look out for both offensively and defensively. On day one of the Greyhound Premiere Invitational she added 27 kills in both matches while posting 28 and 26 digs in the first and second matches, respectively. Sophomore Rachel Selmore was also a consistent offensive contributor to Ramapo through out the tournament. 

Potential Starting Lineup: OH – Larysa Iwaskiw, OH – Rachel Selmore, S – Kaitlin Mac Iver, L – Emily Harris, OH – Cathryn Smart, MH – Emily Gunzman

Against Ramapo All-Time
The Brewers are undefeated against Ramapo with a record of 6-0. The last contest held between these two teams was in 2006, so Vassar will be facing a very different team this weekend.

A Look at the Hawks (2-2)
New Paltz started out the season finishing 2-2 at the Clarkson Classic. On day one the Hawks fell to No. 1 ranked Calvin in four sets, while finishing off the day with a five set win against Roger Williams. New Paltz finished the second day of the tournament with a split, losing in three sets to No. 20 Clarkson and coming back to win their second match against Simmons College in three sets.   

Sophomore Becca Borquist was named to the All-Tournament team for the weekend. Offensively, she averaged 3.93 kills per set and hit .310. Defensively she averaged 2.13 digs per set.  Borquist was also was named SUNYAC Player of the Week for the fourth time. Freshman setter Maddie Zwicki had a strong debut posting 121 assists on the weekend averaging 8.07 assists per set.

Potential Starting Lineup: OH – Becca Borquist, S – Maddie Zwicki, OH - Katy Braddon, RS – Alex Bizub, OH – Chanteal Ramhorst, MH – Alli Coleman, L – Katy Herbst

Against New Paltz All-Time
Vassar has been playing New Paltz since 1988 and has a record of 12-20 overall. The Brewers are hoping to break a six-year losing streak against the visiting Hawks.

Outstanding Offense
Senior Taylor Mosley (Rowlett,TX/Parish Episcopal) has the most kills on the team, with 31, while fellow senior Clara Cardillo  (San Fransisco, CA/Bay School) follows closely with 2.75 kills per set.  

Rookie Assists
Freshman setter, Sophia Tiajoloff (Kinnelon,NJ/Kinnelon), made her rookie debut posting 75 assists, averaging 9.38 assists per set. She also played solid defense racking up 16 digs in two matches.

Tough "D"
The defense has been led by junior Chloe Hallum (Baltimore,MD/Olympia). She posted 41 digs in two matches, averaging 5.13 digs per set. Sophomore Gabby Miller (Scottsdale,AZ/Horizon) and Taylor Mosley both averaged two digs per set in the team's first matches.

Freshman Debut
Freshman Alex Sams (Los Angeles, CA/Beverly Hills) made a strong debut, playing in all eight sets on her first day as a Brewer. She contributed two serves aces and three blocks.

Strong Serving
Taylor Mosley started off the year with very strong serving totaling eight aces in the eight sets that the Brewers have played so far. Clara Cardillo added five aces to the team's total of 29 aces on the day.

Sky High Percentage
Freshman Paige Lerman (San Fransisco,CA/ Jewish Comm. Of The Bay) currently holds the second-highest hitting percentage on the team at .250. She earned seven kills in the two sets that she played. She has the highest number of kills per set at 3.50.