POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (February 3, 2015) – The Vassar College men's volleyball team (4-3, 0-0 UVC) plays another non-conference match against a conference opponent Wednesday night, traveling on Bard College to take on the Raptors in the Stevenson Athletics Center at 7 p.m.
 
Game Details
Opponent: Bard College (2-4, 0-1 UVC)
Links:  (Bard Men's Volleyball Homepage) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Poughkeepsie, NY
Facility: Kenyon Hall
Date: February 4, 2015
Time: 7:00 pm
Twitter Coverage: (@VassarAthletics)(@VassarMensVB) (@BardAthletics)
Game Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)
 
What To Look For
The Brewers have come into this match having won two of their last three games, including a huge upset over No. 10 NYU 3-2 last Thursday. The Brewers also split their two matches on Saturday, falling to No. 3 Springfield 3-0 before bouncing back to defeat Elms 3-0. The Brewers look to gain some momentum from this game going into Saturday, where they play New Jersey City before a big rematch with Wentworth, who swept the Brewers earlier this season.
 
A Look At The Raptors (2-4, 0-1 UVC)
Bard has had a decent start to their season thus far. The Raptors opened their season at the SUNYIT Tournament, where they went 1-3, including a 3-0 sweep of Mount Ida. Last week, after falling to No. 13 MIT 3-0 on Wednesday, Bard bounced back to sweep Medgar Evers for their second win of the young season. After Vassar, Bard travels to Keuka Park, NY to take on Keuka, SUNYIT, and Regis.
 
The Raptors run a balanced offense this season, with five players having between ten and 30 kills on the season. Junior outside hitter Kai Bernier-Chen leads the attack with 29 kills on the season. Junior outside hitter Jesse Small and sophomore middle hitter Alex Adams have recorded 27 and 17 kills, respectively, with Adams hitting a team-high .184. Adams also leads the UVC in service aces, average 0.90 per set. Freshman setter Joseph Stier runs the offense for Bard, totaling 64 assists.  On defense, freshman libero Tyler Zowaski leads the team with 50 total digs, and is currently third in the UVC with 2.78 digs per set.
 
Projected Starters: OH – Kai Bernier-Chen, OH – Jesse Small, MH – Alex Adams, MH – Troy Robertson, RS – Shane McDonald, S – Joseph Stier, L – Tyler Zowaski
 
Against Bard All-Time
Vassar currently leads the series 14-0, dating back to 1989. After playing seven times between 1989 and 1992, the two teams did not meet again until 2008. Bard has only ever taken one set off of Vassar, when the Brewers won 3-1 in 2010. The two teams last met on March 5, 2014, where Vassar won 3-0.
 
Righteous Rookies
This Monday, the United Volleyball Conference honored freshman setter Zechariah Lee (Santa Clarita, CA/Saugus) as the UVC Rookie of the Week. It was the first honor for Lee of the season, and second consecutive for a Brewer freshman, with Matthew Knigge (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt) earning co-Rookie of the Week honors the previous week.
 
Middle Masher
Matthew Knigge continues to be a force at the net for the Brewers. Knigge currently leads the team with 53 kills, and is second in the UVC with a .483 hitting percentage.
 
Only Need One
Vassar currently leads the UVC with 1.76 service aces per set. The Brewers are led by Lee and junior middle hitter Erik Halberg (Newark, DE/Salesianum), who have ten aces apiece.
 
Not Up In Here
The freshmen duo Matthew Knigge and Zechariah Lee are currently tied for fifth in the UVC in blocks, each averaging 1.00 blocks per set.
 
Second-Year Standout
Sophomore outside Christian Lizana (Dublin, PA/Pennridge) had a solid game against Springfield, leading the Brewers with seven kills on just 14 swings.
 
Rutledge To The Rescue
Sophomore outside Quinn Rutledge (Chesterfield, VA/Cosby) stepped in against Springfield and made a big impact, recording four kills and two blocks in two sets of action. Then, in his first start of the season against Elms, Rutledge contributed two kills, three aces, and a career-high eight digs.
 
Up Next
Vassar College will return home this weekend, taking on New Jersey City on Saturday, February 7 at 1 pm, before facing off against Wentworth at 5 pm, in a rematch of the match just two weeks ago, where Wentworth swept the Brewers.