SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (September 18, 2015) – The Vassar College women's volleyball team opened its 2015 Liberty League slate Friday evening, knocking off Union College in four games in action from Skidmore College. The Brewers dropped the evening contest with St. Lawrence University in four sets to move to 5-5 and 1-1 in the conference. 

Vassar 3, Union 1
The Vassar College women's volleyball team attacked at its second-highest rate of the season in starting the Liberty League schedule with a big 25-23, 25-23, 11-25, 25-23 victory over Union College (9-2) Friday evening. The story of the match for the Brewers was their ability to end points, finishing with a season-high 47 kills.

In the opening set, VC burst out to a 12-6 lead as sophomore Bria Corham (Kansas City, MO/Montville Township) powered home a kill. Union pulled to within one thanks to four straight errors by the Brewers, but VC responded by pushing its edge back up to five at 19-14. The Dutchwomen again rallied, and trimmed Vassar's lead to one at 24-23, but Corham blasted down a kill to end the game.

Vassar had to play from behind for the majority of the second game, as Union posted nine of the first 11 points of the stanza. The Brewers roared back, turning a 14-6 deficit into a tie game after an 8-0 run on the strength of three kills from junior Gabby Miller (Scottsdale, AZ/Horizon).

The Dutchwomen would continue to lead, taking a 23-22 edge after a finish by Lauren Woods. Undeterred, the Brewers stiffened and posted three straight points on kills by Miller and Corham, along with an ace by Alex Sams (Los Angeles, CA/Beverly Hills), to earn a 25-23 set win along with a 2-0 match lead.

After Union took the third set, the Brewers came out on fire in the third set, posting 18 kills in the final game. The tandem of Miller and freshman Devan Gallagher (San Francisco, CA/Urban School of San Francisco) combined for 14 terminations in the deciding set, as VC led from 4-3 through the final point on a kill by Miller.

Miller was all over the court for the Brewers Friday against Union, finishing with 16 kills, nine digs and three blocks. Gallagher equaled Miller's match-high 16 terminations, adding two assisted blocks, while Corham posted eight finishes for the match. The attack was quarterbacked by sophomore setter Sophia Tiajoloff (Kinnelon, NJ/Kinnelon), as she added 38 assists, her third-highest total as a Brewer.

Freshman Lauren Ninkovich (Portland, OR/Oregon Episcopal School) and senior Chloe Hallum (Olympia, WA/Olympia) each posted 11 digs to lead Vassar, and junior captain Sierra Tobin (Santa Cruz, CA/Santa Cruz) added nine digs as well. 

St. Lawrence 3, Vassar 1
The tandem of Lexi Brown and Masha Kolesnikova combined for 22 kills, as the Saints (3-7, 1-0 Liberty) earned a 25-23, 14-25, 25-21 and 25-22 victory in their first contest of the evening. Brown proved to be a tough player to stop for the Brewers, as she finished with a match-best .435 hitting percentage, posting a 12-2-23 hitting clip.

The opening set was back and forth, as Vassar pulled even for twice late in the game, with the last tie coming at 23-all after a kill from Sams. A service error by Vassar though, followed by a Maddy Ruehl service ace for the Saints gave SLU the early lead.

The following game was all Vassar, leading from start to finish in the set to pull the match even at one set apiece. In the stanza, VC posted a hitting percentage of .238, but it was the eight errors by St. Lawrence that did the Saints in.

The critical third set started with a quick 8-4 run by Vassar, but St. Lawrence rallied to push ahead by five at 16-11. VC got as close as 18-17 after a ball-handling error by SLU, but two straight points by the Saints were enough to give ample cushion the rest of the game.

In the final set, Vassar again posted a big early lead, as it looked like the Brewers would fourth a fifth set for the first time in 2015. VC led 10-2 at one point, but St. Lawrence strung together a 9-2 run to make the score 12-11. VC continued to lead though, taking a 17-13 edge after a kill from Gallagher. The Saints gathered themselves, a posted five consecutive tallies to take an 18-17 lead.

With the match tied at 21, Corham tacked on a kill to give the Brewers a 22-21 lead, but the Saints went on a four-point run to end the match. Gallagher chalked up a match-best 14 kills on 42 attacks, posting five digs on top of her attack stats. Tiajoloff finished with 28 assists, and Miller and Corham each had six kills for VC. Ninkovich finished with a team-high 13 digs in the loss.

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Vassar (5-5, 1-1 Liberty League) will return to action Saturday at Union College, taking on Clarkson University at 12 p.m. and Skidmore College at 2 p.m.  in more conference play.