Box Score

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (January 29, 2015) – The Vassar College men's volleyball team used a 6-1 run late in the fifth set, pulling the 3-2 upset of No. 10 New York University in the home opener for the Brewers in Kenyon Hall in front of a raucous crowd Thursday evening.

Vassar College (3-2) posted the win with scores of 17-25, 25-19, 33-31, 16-25 and 15-10. The win for the Brewers was their first over the Violets since April 13, 2013, and the first in the regular season since January 25, 2012, a span of seven games. The victory also marked the first win for the Brewers over a ranked opponent since defeating the same Violets, then ranked 10^th as well, in the United Volleyball Conference Championships two season ago.

The Brewers started slow and fell behind early in the match after the first set, as the visiting Violets (2-1) hit a single-set high for the match of .529. Vassar responded well in the second period, knotting the contest at one set apiece. In the second frame and with the score tied at eight points apiece, Vassar rattled off a 6-1 spurt to take a 14-9 lead. During the run, freshman Matthew Knigge (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt) had three kills.

NYU trimmed the lead to two twice on kills by Nick Benson, but Vassar was able to extend its lead throughout the rest of the set, earning a 25-19 win. With the match tied at a game apiece, both teams emptied the tank in the third set, with Vassar outlasting the Violets in the game 33-31. The 33 points needed to win a stanza was the most for a VC squad since March 17, 2012, when the Brewers were required to take 34 against New Jersey City University in set two of that match.

In the third game, Vassar College attacked at its best rate of any set this year thus far, hitting at a .435 clip. With the score tied at 23, the Brewers and Violets alternated points 16 times with Vassar holding eight set points before finally getting back-to-back kills with the match tied at 31 from junior Reno Kriz (Breinigsville, PA/Parkland) and Knigge.

Visiting NYU did not go away though, controlling the fourth set to even the match at two games apiece and sending the contest to a fifth stanza. In the deciding game, VC fell behind 6-3, forcing a timeout by head coach Rob Wolter. Out of the stoppage, The Brewers rattled off four consecutive points, before the two teams traded points to get to 8-8.

From that point, VC notched four points in a row, two coming on kills and two by way of Erik Halberg (Newark, DE/Salesianum School) blocks to put the Brewers up 12-8. After VC earned a match point at 14-10, NYU would tally its final of 30 service errors on the night, giving the Brewers the thrilling win.

Kriz paced the offense for the Brewers Thursday evening, as he posted 13 kills on 30 total attempts, adding six digs as well. Knigge hit at a team-best .556 (11-1-8) in the win, chalking up six assisted blocks, and freshman Jorge Rivera (San Juan, PR/Cupeyville) added nine kills and six digs.

Sophomore outside hitter Christian Lizana (Dublin, PA/Pennridge) contributed nine kills, including two huge terminations over the last five points of the match for VC. Freshman setter Zechariah Lee (Santa Clarita, CA/Saugus) was outstanding as well, passing out 36 assists while posting seven total rejections.

Sophomore libero Trey Cimorelli (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) added a team-high 10 digs for VC, which finished the night with an attacking rate of .238 (42-17-105). The Brewers 11 blocks were the most since posting 12 blocks against Wentworth Institute of Technology last March.

Benson finished with a match-high 24 kills for the Violets, while teammate Chase Klein also posted 17 kills on just 26 swings. Derrick Chiu dished out 53 helpers, and Colin LaPorte finished with nine kills and a team-leading 10 digs. NYU outscored the Brewers 82-55 on the night in terms of points, but the service errors doomed the Violets.

Vassar College returns to action this Saturday, heading to Springfield, MA to battle No. 3 Springfield College and Elms College in a non-conference tri-match.