Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

CAMBRIDGE, MA (March 14, 2015) – The Vassar College men's volleyball team started Saturday with a much needed United Volleyball Conference (UVC) victory over Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), knocking off the Engineers in five grueling sets in one of the best matches of the season for Vassar.

VC knocked off MIT 31-29, 25-21, 25-21, 25-22 and 19-17 in the fifth set, capping one of the most exciting contests of the year. In the nightcap, the Brewers (13-11, 1-4 UVC) fell in four games to Lasell College with scores of 36-34, 25-21, 25-20 and 25-14 in a non-conference outing.

Vassar 3, MIT 2
The Brewers posted a season-high 77 kills against the Engineers, tying for the seventh-most terminations in a match all-time in capturing the big victory. Vassar hit .238 on the day, which proved huge in a match that saw 55 tie scores and 21 lead changes during the marathon outing.

In the first set, Vassar trailed 13-10 mid-way through the set, but an 8-0 by the Brewers pushed them ahead by five at 18-13. MIT answered with five of the next six points, setting up a tight finish to the game. Over the next 24 points, there were 12 tie scores, with the last deadlock coming at 29-29. Freshman Matthew Knigge (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt) put VC ahead with a kill, and junior Reno Kriz (Breinigsville, PA/Parkland) clinched the frame with a successful attack.

Vassar's offense was very efficient in the second set, hitting .405 in the game while getting a single-set high of seven kills from freshman outside hitter Jorge Rivera (San Juan, PR/Cupeyville) to take a 2-0 lead. The Engineers didn't go away, trimming Vassar's lead in half with a 25-21 win in the third, scoring the final four points of the set to pick up the win.

MIT (14-8, 2-4 UVC) followed a third set which saw it hit .444 with another offensively solid game, this time connecting at a .324 clip (15-4-34) to even the match at two with a 25-22 win. In the final set, Vassar looked like it could be in trouble, trailing by as much as four at 11-7 after a kill by MIT's Alex Klein. The Brewers didn't go away, rallying to knot the match at 12. The two teams alternated tallies over the next six points, as Vassar fended off three match points.

With the score knotted at 17, Vassar sophomore Quinn Rutledge (Chesterfield, VA/Cosby) posted his 19th kill of the day to put VC up 18-17. On the next point, freshman setter Zechariah Lee (Santa Clarita, CA/Saugus) chalked up his only kill of the contest to seal the win for Vassar.

Rivera totaled a career-high 20 terminations for the Brewers, adding a career-high 12 digs in chalking up his second double-double of the year. Rutledge bested his career-high with 19 terminations against the Engineers, and Kriz chalked up a solid overall match of 17 kills, eight digs and six assisted blocks.

Hitting efficiency was once again paced by Knigge, as he connected on a team-high .462 attacking percentage, totaling 14 kills and seven digs. Lee posted the third-most assists in a match ever Saturday, as the freshman handed out 71 helpers to go with 11 digs. Sophomore Trey Cimorelli (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) led the defense with a season-high 17 digs, assisting on eight kills. Junior Erik Halberg (Newark, DE/Salesianum) added six kills and five assisted rejections as well.

Lasell 3, Vassar 1
The Brewers started the match with the longest set victory in over six years, but couldn't keep it going as Lasell came back with three straight set wins to clinch the match. In the first set, the two teams combined for 70 total points, as the Brewers outlasted the Lasers after 24 tie scores and nine lead changes.

In the set, Vassar trailed 24-22 but turned away two potential set points with kills by Kriz and Rivera. VC earned its first set point at 29-28 after back-to-back terminations by Quinn Rutledge, but Lasell was able to keep the game going. The Lasers (16-5) had another shot to win the game at 32-31, but Kriz again fended off an attempt to earn the game by Lasell with a kill.

After the teams alternated points, VC was able to chalk up back-to-back points on kills by Luke Sobieraj (Chicago, IL/Northside College Prep) and Halberg. The 36 points to win a set for the Brewers was the most since VC needed 38 to earn a set over New Paltz January 23, 2009. It was also the longest set win for VC ever in the 25-point rally scoring format.

That was as good as it would get for VC though, as the Lasers were able to take advantage of the exhausted Brewers, who played 12 sets over the last two days. Rivera chalked up another 20 kills for Vassar in the loss, as he became the first Brewer to register back-to-back 20-kill contests since Evan Fredericksen registered 23 and 20 kills in the final two matches of the 2011 season.

Cimorelli added another 12 digs for the Brewers, while Rutledge and Kriz each finished with 10 kills apiece. Sobieraj posted six terminations, and senior Colin White-Dzuro (Toronto, Ontario, Canada/Royal St. George) contributed 48 assists and eight digs. Vassar hit .213 on the match, marking the first time this season VC has hit over .200 and not earned the match.

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Vassar travels to Brooklyn College Thursday evening at 6 p.m. in non-conference action from Brooklyn, NY.