Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

HOBOKEN, NJ (March 28, 2015) – In an important day in the Vassar College men's volleyball team's quest to earn a spot in the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) playoffs, the Brewers picked up an important four-set win over Penn State University-Behrend early Saturday afternoon. Vassar fell later in the day to host No. 1 Stevens Institute of Technology in straight sets.

The Brewers raced past the Lions in four games with scores of 25-18, 25-17, 9-25 and 25-15, before dropping the match with Stevens after set counts of 25-12, 25-21 and 25-20. The win against PSU-Behrend helped Vassar College clinch a UVC playoff spot, as MIT fell twice Saturday to NYU and Nazareth.

Vassar 3, Penn State-Behrend 1
The Brewers needed a strong effort in the opening contest of the afternoon, and that's exactly what they got thanks to a great start during the first two sets. Vassar got a great effort out of junior Reno Kriz (Breningsville, PA/Parkland), who posted a match-high 15 kills to go with team-highs of 11 digs.

The opening set saw the Brewers and Lions battle for the lead over the first 16 points of the game, but a 12-2 run gave Vassar an eight-point lead at 20-12. Over that span, sophomore Quinn Rutledge (Chesterfield, VA/Cosby) helped out the cause with four kills. The Brewers cruised to the win, as they hit .300 (15-6-30) for the set.

Vassar was able to jump out to a quick 8-3 lead in the second set, as Kriz and freshman Jorge Rivera (San Juan, PR/Cupeyville) each added two kills over the Brewer spurt. VC led by as much as six before the Lions trimmed Vassar's advantage to four at 18-14 after a kill by Josh Oertly. Vassar responded with five straight points, two on Rutledge kills, to pull away for the win.

Penn State-Behrend controlled play in the third set, hitting .286 while forcing VC into 15 errors in the period to make the match score 2-1. Vassar was able to restore order though in the fourth set, taking the lead at 4-3 and scoring 13 of the next 17 points to take an insurmountable lead in earning the big conference win. VC hit .545 in the fourth set, and sided out on 13 of 15 chances (86 percent).

Rivera posted nine kills and five digs for the balanced Brewers, who finished with five players with six or more kills. Rutledge added eight kills, five digs and three blocks, while Erik Halberg (Newark, DE/Salesianum) posted six kills on 10 attacks. Freshman Matthew Knigge (New Egypt, NJ/New Egypt) added six kills, three blocks and an ace, while fellow newcomer Zechariah Lee (Santa Clarita, CA/Saugus) had a match-high 42 assists and added to his single-season ace record with another one against the Lions.

Sophomore Trey Cimorelli (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) tied for the match lead with 11 digs, while sophomore Christian Lizana (Dublin, PA/Pennridge) also was solid in the back with seven digs. Vassar hit .175 (47-26-120) for the match, and posted seven total blocks in the match.

No. 1 Stevens 3, Vassar 0
The deep and talented Ducks of Stevens Institute of Technology competed their perfect United Volleyball Conference (UVC) regular season slate with a win over the Brewers, hitting .344 for the match while 10 different Ducks had a kill.

Vassar trailed early in the first set to Stevens but battled back to trim the Ducks' lead to one at 10-9. Stevens responded with 10 of the next 11 points to take a commanding lead in the first set, earning an early match advantage. The second set was tied three times, the latest come at 8-8, but the Ducks were able to build as much a five-point lead at 17-12. The Brewers were able to fight back to make the score 22-21 on a Halberg service ace.

The host Ducks though were able to force VC into three straight attacking errors at the end of the second set to take a 2-0 lead. Stevens opened the third game with the first four points, but Vassar rallied to tie the score at five on a kill by Lizana. Stevens though sprinted in front on the strength of a 9-3 run to pull away, leading by as much by seven points in earning the win.

Lizana had a match-best nine kills in the game for the Brewers, while Knigge had a team-best .273 hitting percentage in posting six terminations. Rivera and Kriz each finished with eight kills as well for Vassar, and Lee posted 29 assists and a team-high five digs. With the 19 kills on Saturday, Kriz moved ever closer to 1,000 for his career, sitting now with 946 for his tenure at VC. Kriz trails last year's captain Joe Pyne '14 by five for eighth all-time in kills, and is 15 behind former All-American Matt Elgin '13 for seventh.

The Ducks were led by the six kills by Daniel Smith, and Chris Vaughan, Tim Ferriter and Ryan Brandow all had four kills as well for Stevens.

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The Brewers (15-12, 2-5 UVC) will conclude their UVC season on Wednesday, hosting Bard College at 7 p.m. in Kenyon Hall.