POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (March 31, 2015) – The Vassar College men's volleyball team (15-12, 2-5 UVC) returns home for a rematch against Bard in the final conference match of the year on Wednesday. The two teams will face off at 7 p.m. in Kenyon Hall.
 
Game Details
Opponent: vs. Bard (8-18, 0-7 UVC)
Links:  (Bard Men's Volleyball Homepage) (Roster) (Stats) (Schedule)
Site: Poughkeepsie, New York
Facility: Kenyon Hall
Date: April 1, 2015
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Twitter Coverage: (@VassarAthletics) (@VassarMensVB) (@BardAthletics) (@BardVolleyball)
Live Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)
 
What to Look For
Vassar just clinched a spot in the UVC tournament over the weekend, defeating Penn State-Behrend in four sets before falling to No. 1 Stevens in three sets. The Brewers are the sixth and final seed in the tournament, and earned a rematch against No. 7 Nazareth on Friday, April 10. It will be the third time the teams face off against each other this season. The Brewers cannot look ahead though; as they still have three important matches this week.
 
A Look at the Raptors (8-18, 0-7 UVC)
Bard has had a decent season, recently equaling their win total from last year, with four matches yet to play. At the Bard Tournament last month, the Raptors went 2-1, with wins over Staten Island and the City College of New York. Since then, Bard has defeated Elms, Sarah Lawrence, and Purchase. In conference play, the Raptors are still looking for their first set win of the season, as they have dropped games to Penn State Behrend, No. 9 NYU, No. 11 Elmira, and No. 3 SUNY New Paltz in the past month, all in three sets. After Vassar, Bard will end their season at the MIT Scramble on April 3-4.
 
The Raptors spread the ball around relatively evenly, with all five of their hitter having between 225 and 485 attempts on the season. Junior outside hitter Jesse Small leads the way on offense with 167 kills, and is also hitting a team-high .178. Sophomore middle hitter Alex Adams and junior outside hitter Kai Bernier-Chen follow with 138 and 82 kills, respectively. Adams also leads the team with 33 service aces. Freshman setter Joseph Stier runs the offense, totaling 486 assists on the season. On defense, Adams leads the Raptors with 48 total blocks, while freshman libero Tyler Zowaski paces the backcourt with 225 digs.
 
Potential Starting Lineup: OH – Jesse Small, OH – Kai Bernier-Chen, MH – Alex Adams, MH – Troy Robertson, OPP – Shane McDonald, S – Joseph Stier, L – Tyler Zowaski
 
Against Bard All-Time
Vassar currently leads the series 15-0, dating back to 1989. The Brewers have swept every game against the Raptors, except when Vassar won in four sets on Feb. 24, 2010. The teams last met on Feb. 4, 2015 at Bard, where the Brewers won in three sets.
 
Shut It Down
Vassar has been very strong defensively this season, ranking second in the UVC in opponent assists (8.68 per set), second in opponent kills (9.38 per set), third in opponent service aces (0.91 per set), and fifth in digs (9.27 per set).
 
Captain Trey
Sophomore libero Trey Cimorelli (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) led the team with 11 digs against Penn State-Behrend, including his 200^th dig of the season. Cimorelli now has had 11 games with double-digit digs, and is fourth in the UVC with 2.51 digs per set.
 
Krizly Bear
Junior opposite Reno Kriz (Breinigsville, Pa/Parkland) had his first double-double of the season, with 15 kills and 11 digs against Penn State Behrend. Kriz is currently ninth in the conference with 2.92 kills per set.
 
Dublin Dandy
Sophomore outside hitter Christian Lizana (Dublin, Pa/Pennridge) came up huge off the bench against No. 1 Stevens, leading the team with nine kills and hitting .235. Lizana is currently fifth on the team with 89 total kills on the season.
 
Zech Attack
Freshman setter Zechariah Lee (Santa Clarita, CA/Saugus) dished out a combined 71 assists this past weekend. Lee is currently fourth in the UVC with 9.22 assists per set.
 
Up Next
After Bard, Vassar will close out the regular season on Saturday with a home non-conference tri-match. The Brewers will take on The Sage Colleges at 11 a.m., before ending with York at 3 p.m. in Kenyon Hall.
 
The match against Sage will the Vassar's Senior Day game, where the team will honor the contributions of three seniors, Colin White-Dzuro (Toronto, ON/Royal St. George), Artie Blissert (Midlothian, VA/Trinity Episcopal), and Luke Sobieraj (Chicago, IL/Northside College Prep).