Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

ELMIRA, NY (February 15, 2015) – The Vassar College men's volleyball team lifted the lid on the 2014-15 United Volleyball Conference (UVC) slate Sunday afternoon, but was unable to pull in a victory, falling in four games to No. 10 New York University and No. 14 Elmira College. The Brewers fell to NYU 29-27, 25-21, 17-25, 25-17, ending the afternoon with a four-set loss to the hosts with scores of 25-19, 23-25, 25-16 and 25-9.

No. 10 NYU 3, Vassar 1
The Violets exacted some revenge on the Brewers Sunday afternoon after an earlier season defeat in Poughkeepsie, as NYU moved to 2-0 in the United Volleyball Conference with the win over the Brewers. Neither team had much success putting balls down, as the squads combined for 103 digs and a whopping 31 total blocks.

In the first set, the Brewers turned a 13-11 deficit in the middle of the period and rattled off eight straight points to take a 19-13 advantage. The Brewers held a six-point lead at 24-18, but New York University fended off six consecutive set points to push the game into extra points. Freshman Jorge Rivera (San Juan, PR/Cupeyville) ended the run to make the score 25-24, but NYU (5-2, 2-0 UVC) posted three of the matches next four points. In the end, the Violets were able to finish the comeback with a 29-27 win.

The Violets were able to force nine attacking errors in the second game to take a 2-0 lead, but Vassar rallied in the third game to trim the NYU lead to just a game. With the score 15-13 in favor of NYU the Brewers went on a 10-1 run, capped by three consecutive assisted blocks by freshman Matthew Knigge (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt), to earn the set. The fourth set though saw the Violets error just twice and hit .346 in picking up the win.

Junior Reno Kriz (Breinigsville, PA/Parkland had a double-double of a team-high 15 kills and 11 digs, marking the fifth time in his career he has posted double digits in the same match. Rivera added 12 kills, while fellow newcomer Zechariah Lee (Santa Clarita, CA/Saugus) stuffed the stat sheet with 39 assists, five service aces, 11 digs and five total blocks.

Sophomore libero Trey Cimorelli (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) finished with a team-leading 12 digs, and Knigge added seven kills, seven total blocks and five digs. The Brewers struggled with the serve Sunday against NYU, posting 20 errors and serving at a .780 percentage. VC also connected on a hitting percentage of .119, posting a 46-30-134 attack line.

No. 14 Elmira 3, Vassar 1
In the nightcap, the ranked Soaring Eagles (10-7, 1-1 UVC) were able to swing for a .306 clip, posting 44 kills in earning the win. In the opening set, Vassar led 14-12, but six points in a row for the host Soaring Eagles would be the difference as they took an early match lead. The Brewers knotted the match at a game apiece, thanks to a nice comeback. Elmira led by as much as five twice, but with the score 20-17 the Brewers rattled off a 6-0 spurt to take a 23-20 lead. The Eagles two three straight service points, but a kill from Rivera and a block by Kriz and junior Erik Halberg (Newark, DE/Salesianum School) clinched the set for VC.

In the third and fourth games though, the Soaring Eagles offense came alive and the Brewers were unable to match it in dropping its second of the day. Kriz again led Vassar with 13 kills, while Rivera chalked up his first career double-double of 10 kills and 11 digs. Cimorelli finished with a team-high 16 digs, and Knigge added eight kills and five total blocks. Lee chalked up 37 assists against Elmira, and Christian Lizana (Dublin, PA/Pennridge) accumulated seven digs and four kills as well for VC.

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The Brewers (7-6, 0-2 UVC) will travel to Ramapo College February 18, 2015 at 7 p.m. for a non-conference battle with the Roadrunners in Mahwah, NJ.