Box Score

ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, NY (February 4, 2015) -- The Vassar College men's volleyball team had no trouble getting by Bard College Wednesday, showing the squad's depth in a 3-0 non-conference victory over the Raptors in play from the Stevenson Athletic Center. 

VC earned the win with scores of 25-6, 25-18 and 25-18, as all 10 players that had at least one attack had a kill. The Brewers finished with 10 kills in 20 attacks in the first set, taking an early one-set lead while holding the Raptors (2-5) to just one finish on 21 attempts. 

The second set saw the Brewers jump out to an early lead, and held at least a five-point edge throughout most of the second game. Up 2-0, the Brewers relied mostly on freshman Brian Manley (Buffalo, NY/Orchard Park) in the third set, as he chalked up seven kills in the set to help Vassar clinch the victory. 

Manley paced the Brewers with eight successful attacks on the night, while fellow freshman Matthew Knigge (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt) finished with seven kills, two service aces and two assisted blocks. Junior middle hitter Erik Halberg (Newark, DE/Salesianum) had five kills on six attempts, posting two aces and four blocks as well for the Brewers. 

Sophomore Christian Lizana (Dublin, PA/Pennridge) hit .357 on the evening, finishing with six terminations and a team-best eight digs. All 12 players that played for the Brewers had at least one dig, and reigning United Volleyball Conference Rookie of the Week Zechariah Lee (Santa Clarita, VA/Saugus) dished out 32 assists to go with two blocks. Sophomore Nick Zarchen (Santa Monica, CA/Santa Monica) added three assists and five digs in the win. 

The Brewers posted 38 kills on the night, the third most in a match this season for VC, while the .301 hitting percentage for the Brewers was also the third-best in 2015. Vassar held Bard to a negative attacking rate on the evening, forcing BC into a 13-17-71 (-.056) hitting percentage. The -.056 was the second-lowest percentage against this season, as Mount Ida College hit -.088 in the season opener against Vassar. 

These two teams meet later in the season in Kenyon Hall on April 1 at 7 p.m. in UVC action. The Brewers (5-3) will host New Jersey City University and Wentworth Institute of Technology for a tri-match Saturday at 1 p.m. in Kenyon Hall. Both Wentworth and Vassar are receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 15 poll this week.