POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (October 14, 2015) – The Vassar College women's volleyball team (9-9, 3-5 Liberty League) will finish its Liberty League slate this upcoming weekend, hosting four conference schools Friday night in the Athletics & Fitness Center before heading to Bard College Saturday for more league action. VC will take on Bard and Skidmore College Friday night at home, before traveling to Annandale-on-Hudson to battle Rochester Institute of Technology and Union College Saturday.

Match Details
Opponent: vs. Bard College (10-13, 0-8 LL)
Links: (Bard Women's Volleyball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Poughkeepsie, NY
Facility:  Athletics & Fitness Center
Date: October 16, 2015
Time:  4 p.m.
Live Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)

Opponent: vs. Skidmore College (7-15, 1-3 LL)
Links: (Skidmore Women's Volleyball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Poughkeepsie, NY
Facility:  Athletics & Fitness Center
Date: October 16, 2015
Time: 8p.m.
Live Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)

Opponent: vs. Union (18-4, 2-2 LL)
Links: (Union Women's Volleyball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Facility:  Stevenson Athletic Center
Date: October 17, 2015
Time:  12 p.m.

Opponent: at Rochester Institute of Technology (14-11, 3-1 LL)
Links: (RIT Women's Volleyball Home Page) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Facility:  Stevenson Athletic Center
Date: October 17, 2015
Time:  2 p.m.

What To Look For
It's now or never time for the Vassar women's team here in 2015 if it wants to play in the Liberty League Tournament. Coming into the weekend the Brewers sit in fifth place, needing to climb into the top four to earn a spot in the postseason playoffs. Currently, Clarkson sits in first place with an 8-0 record in the league, while RIT is second having only played four matches. St. Lawrence University is 5-3 in the conference and in third, while Union is 2-2 and in fourth. If the Brewers can go 4-0 this weekend, it would give them seven conference wins, which would put the pressure on Union and RIT over the next two weekends.

A Look At The Raptors (10-13, 0-8 Liberty)
The Raptors have had real success under third-year head coach Stephanie Carrington this year, especially out of conference going 10-5 on the season. Bard is riding high coming into the weekend, having won its last two matches, with three-set victories over The College at Old Westbury and Castleton University. Bard has been solid defensively, holding opposition to a hitting percentage of .131, which is the third-lowest in the conference this year. Bard has also served well, leading the Liberty League in service aces per set with 3.16.

Individually, the offense runs through freshman Sofia Koukia, as she has twice as many kills as the next best Raptor. Koukia has posted 239 kills on the year, while posting a team-best hitting percentage of .214. Senior Tytravia Riley has pounded down 118 attacks this year, while Kristen Westerduin also has 78 kills on the season. Victoria Choi leads the offense with 508 assists, while Phillippine Alba has a team and conference leading 47 aces to go with 196 digs.

Against Bard All-Time
The Brewers have played Bard College 18 previous times in the history of the series, and Vassar College has captured the win in all 18 contests. During the series, Bard has only earned two games all-time.

A Look At The Thoroughbreds (7-15, 1-3 Liberty League)
Skidmore enters the Liberty League weekend on a two-match win streak, having knocked off College of New Rochelle and Penn State-Behrend last weekend. The Thoroughbreds have been unable to put points away with the conference's third-lowest attacking percentage, but the back row and star libero Marcela Familiar have helped to keep plays alive. Skidmore is first in the Liberty League in digs per set with 18.43, but have not been able to score the ball with the conference's lowest ace rate and is second to last in blocks.
 
Familiar has been one of the better liberos in the conference for the past few years, and she continues to rack up the digs as she leads the Liberty League with 5.29 ups a set. Offensively, Skidmore has only two players averaging over two kills per set, as Allie Dillon and Caite Canfield each are over the mark. Canfield has posted 3.00 kills per game, chalking up 204 for the season, while Dillon has 2.18 finishes per set. Bailey Hutchins and Sam Abrams split setting duties, while Rachel Licata has a team-best 31 rejections.  
 
Against Skidmore All-Time
The Thoroughbreds and Brewers have had a long, extensive series with each other, playing some of the biggest matches in each program's histories. Vassar holds a 35-19 record against Skidmore, dating back to 1988, as these two teams have played in the UCAA or Liberty League title match nine times.
 
A Look At The Dutchwomen (18-4, 2-2 Liberty)
Union has had a very strong start to the season, going 18-4 thus far while earning wins in the first eight matches of the year, and have rattled off victories in the last seven times out. The Dutchwomen have chalked up impressive wins over No. 18 Williams College, along with defeating strong SUNYAC opponents Cortland and Oneonta in five sets. Union is a solid team across the board, sitting in the Liberty League's top three in hitting percentage, assists, kills and blocks.
 
The Dutchwomen have had a very strong and balanced offense this year, as Rachel Wyman and Kelley White each have registered over 200 kills thus far. Lauren Woods, Morgan Clark and Ally Vandoren each all boasts more than 100 finishes on the season, thanks to the strong passing from Amanda Price. Price is second in the conference in assists per set with 9.37. Libero Katherine Moeller is averaging 4.50 digs per set, second-best in the Liberty League, and Woods paces the defense at the net with 92 total blocks thus far.
 
Against Union All-Time
The Brewers have held a strong edge in the all-time series with the Dutchwomen, chalking up a 38-13 mark in the 51 previous matches. Recently though Union has held the upper hand, earning wins in four of the last five outings, though VC earned the earlier matchup this season.
 
 A Look At The Tigers (14-11, 3-1 Liberty)
Rochester Institute of Technology has come on as one of the top teams in the conference over the last few seasons, much in part to the play from Sarah Szybist. The 2013 Liberty League Rookie of the Year has been a force offensively, as she led the conference in kills a season ago and again is atop the kills per set standings this year with 3.89 terminations a game. RIT's offense ranks fourth in the conference in attacking efficiency with a  .164 hitting percentage, while RIT's defense has held opponents to the second-fewest finishes per game in the Liberty League, surrendering just 8.44.

Other than Szybist, the Tigers have a strong contingent that can get the job done when given the ball. Laiz Novaes has posted 2.62 kills per set this season as well, while Amy Van Hienen has pounded down 129 kills on the year. Van Hienen leads the team with 32 service aces, and Erin Parkinson has quarterbacked the offense with 664 assists on the campaign. Middle Kayla Wheeler has a team-high 40 blocks, and libero Rebecca Bennett has added 195 digs out of the back row.

Against RIT All-Time
The Brewers are 9-16 against the Tigers all-time, dating back to 1989. Vassar's last win over the Tigers came back during the 2013 season, and five of the last six matches with these two teams have gone at least four games.
 
Light So Far
The Brewers schedule has been light on sets this season, as Vassar College has played just 60 games this campaign. That number is 11 fewer than any other Liberty League team.
 
Ducks In A Row
Vassar has been unable to get an momentum going this year, as the longest win streak of the season was the three-match run to start the season. After that, VC has won back-to-back affairs just once.
 
Need The Block
The Brewers have been solid this season defensively at the net, chalking up 1.33 rejections per set overall. That number will need to stay consistent this weekend, as so far this year Vassar's blocks per game has dropped to 1.19 in Liberty League play.
 
Hit, Hit, Hooray
The Brewers have gotten a solid campaign out of freshman Devan Gallagher (San Francisco, CA/Urban School of San Francisco), who comes into the weekend seventh in the conference in kills per set with 2.78.
 
Return of the Mac
Freshman setter Annie MacMillan (Colorado Springs, CO/Coronado) earned Liberty League Honor Roll accolades after she posted a season-high 33 assists and nine digs in a 3-1 win over Stevens last week.
 
Gift Of Gabby
Junior Gabby Miller (Scottsdale, AZ/Horizon) has been great from the service line, posting two or more aces in 11 matches, and has failed to record an ace in just five matches this year.
 
Next Up
Vassar will head to Troy, NY next Wednesday, October 21 at 7 p.m. for a non-conference match with The Sage Colleges.