HOBOKEN, NJ (October 5, 2016) – The Vassar College women's volleyball team rallied from being down 2-1 in the match, but couldn't complete the comeback in dropping a non-conference, five-set thriller to the Ducks of Stevens Institute of Technology in play from Canavan Arena.

"In what proved to be a seesaw match with lots of runs and momentum changes, while we played well, we didn't have strings of points when we needed," said head coach Jonathan Penn. "It was good to get pushed by a strong team, and we can get better evening with this tough loss."

The loss was only the second in the last 16 matches for the Brewers, as the defeat snapped a seven-match winning streak for Vassar. VC (14-7) dropped the match with scores of 23-25, 25-21, 25-22, 23-25 and 15-11. Vassar chalked up 55 kills in the match, but hit just .133 over the five-setter, which was the lowest attacking rate for the Brewers since its last loss back on September 17 at RIT (.111).

Vassar College started the match by earning the first set, thanks to hitting .407 in the game, highlighted by nine terminations from freshman Jane McLeod. Stevens (19-2) led the game 16-9 at one point, but the Brewers battled back with a 9-1 run to take an 18-17 edge. The Ducks tied the game at 18, but Vassar earned six of the next eight points to take a 24-20 advantage. Stevens cut the deficit to one at 24-23, but McLeod finished the game with a kill.

The second set saw the hosts hit .345, which turned out to be enough as the Ducks evened the match at a game apiece. Stevens would force Vassar into .000 attacking in the third set, as VC committed 10 errors as the Ducks earned their first lead of the match at 2-1.

The fourth set was a defensive struggle, though the Brewers controlled the set early, taking a 13-5 lead after an ace by freshman Jorden Schreeder. VC's eight-point lead continued through 20-12 on a block by freshman Emily Overman and junior Bria Corham, as the Brewers sent the match to a fifth game despite a late rally from the hosts.

In the deciding set, the Brewers could not get their offense rolling, as VC hit -.158 with just two kills. The Brewers were down 6-3, but rallied to tie the game at six. Stevens came out of a timeout and posted five of the next six points to take a healthy lead. The Ducks eventually clinched the match on a Christina Sciarra kill.

Sophomore setter Annie MacMillan posted her third double-double of the season, stuffing the stat sheet with 47 assists, 12 digs, six kills and two assisted blocks. McLeod posted her second-most kills this season with a match-high 21 terminations, adding six digs, while sophomore Devan Gallagher also had 16 kills and four assisted blocks.

Senior Gabby Miller did a lot for VC on Wednesday, posting 10 kills, four aces, nine digs and two blocks, and Schreeder finished with eight digs and two aces. Senior libero Sierra Tobin added a team-best 15 digs while adding one of the squad's 10 service aces. The Brewers chalked up a hitting clip of 55-33-165 (.133).

Sciarra and Sara Hain each posted 15 kills to pace the Ducks, while Shelby Stewart added 10 kills and six total blocks. Taleen Mitchell finished with nine kills for Stevens, and Brianna Perez dished out 42 assists.
The Brewers will travel to Wellesley, MA to take on the Blue of Wellesley College Saturday at 3 p.m. in more non-conference action.