SCHENECTADY, NY (October 21, 2016) – The Vassar College women's volleyball kept their hopes for the top seed in the Liberty League Tournament alive on Friday evening, splitting a pair of conference matches in action from Union College's Vanier Athletic Center. The Brewers fell to Union College in five sets before knocking off St. Lawrence University in four sets Friday. VC dropped its match with Union 22-25, 25-17, 25-21, 19-25 and 15-12, earning a 25-18, 16-25, 25-18 and 25-14 win over St. Lawrence.

Union 3, Vassar 2
Vassar had three players in double digit kill totals, but Alyssa Bone steel of Union chalked up 15 kills to lead the Dutchwomen to the home win on Friday. Vassar earned the first game, hitting .370, but fell in the next two sets to fall behind 2-1. In the fourth game, Vassar again responded with a strong offensive set, hitting .333 to set the match to a fifth game.

In the final set, Vassar fell behind early but pulled to within one at 10-9 thanks to a 3-0 run on the strength of kills by sophomore Devan Gallagher and freshman Jane McLeod. Union scored two straight, but Vassar again trimmed the UC lead to 13-12 after a kill by Alex Sam's. The home team was able to score the next two points, clinching the win.

McLeod led all Vassar hitters with 15 kills, hitting .303 for the math while also chalking up eight digs. Gallagher finished with 13 finishes, while senior Gabby Miller had a big double-double of 11 kills and 15 digs. Sophomore Annie MacMillan had a big night with 42 assists, 12 digs and six kills, and Sam's finished with eight kills and six digs.

Freshman Jorden Schroeder chalked up 13 digs for Vassar, while Lauren Ninkovich also earned 13 digs for the Brewers. VC led the match with 84 digs on the evening, but 14 serve receive errors were the difference as the Brewers allowed 14 service aces to just the six of their own. VC hit .224 for the contest, while chalking up eight total blocks.

Vassar 3, St. Lawrence 1
VC held SLU to .068 hitting on the night while posting just 14 errors all match in rolling past the Saints in four games. Vassar hit. 321 in the opening set to cruise to the easy 25-18 win, but SLU responded with a 25-16 win in the second game, holding VC to seven kills. The Brewers once again had seven kills in the third game, but forced the Saints into 11 hitting errors as VC took a 2-1 lead.

In the final set, SLU struggled offensively with a -.081 hitting percentage while VC added 11 kills to earn the big Liberty League win. With the victory, Vassar gave itself a chance to earn the regular season title, if it can earn wins tomorrow afternoon over Clarkson University and Skidmore College.

Gallagher led all hitters with 15 kills and a hitting percentage of .424, while McLeod added nine kills on 23 attempts, hitting .304. Senior Sierra Tobin added a team-high 13 digs for the Brewers, and Miller finished with 10 digs and four kills. MacMillan finished with 28 assists, three aces and seven digs, and Schroeder added six digs and two aces.

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The Brewers will stay in the Capital Region tomorrow afternoon, taking on Clarkson University at 2 p.m. in the Williamson Sports Center at Skidmore College, before playing the hosts Thoroughbreds at 4 p.m. in the final Liberty League match of the 2016 season.