POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (October 29, 2016) – The Vassar College women's volleyball team will host the Liberty League Tournament this weekend as the number one seed. The Brewers will face off against RIT in the semi-finals at 7:30 p.m. Prior to this, Clarkson and Union will play at 5 p.m. in the other semi-final match. The winners of these two matches will then play in the Liberty League championship on November 5 at 4 p.m.

LIberty League Tournament Championships Webpage

Game Details
Opponents: Clarkson (19-14, 9-3 LL) vs. Union (25-10, 8-4 LL)
Links: (Clarkson Home Page) (Schedule) (Roster) (Statistics)
Links: (Union Home Page) (Schedule) (Roster) (Statistics)
Site: Poughkeepsie, NY
Facility: Kenyon Hall
Date: November 4, 2016
Time: 5 p.m.
Game Coverage: (Live Video) (Live Stats)

Opponents: Vassar (20-9, 9-3 LL) vs. RIT (21-17, 8-4 LL)
Links: (RIT Home Page) (Schedule) (Roster) (Statistics)
Site: Poughkeepsie, NY
Facility: Kenyon Hall
Date: November 4, 2016
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Game Coverage: (Live Video) (Live Stats)
 
Opponents: Winner Match 1 vs. Winner Match 2
Site: Poughkeepsie, NY
Facility: Kenyon Hall
Date: November 5, 2016
Time: 4 p.m.
Game Coverage: (Live Video) (Live Stats)

Last Time Out: The Brewers went up against Ramapo College who were riding a 19-match winning streak and are ranked number 3 in the New York region. Vassar defeated the Roadrunners with set scores of 25-16, 25-22, 19-25, and 25-17.

A Look At The Brewers (20-9, 9-3 Liberty League):

• The Brewers come into the weekend with an 11-0 record this season at home.
• Vassar is currently ranked 6^th in the New York region, but recently defeated third-ranked Ramapo College and tenth-ranked SUNY New Paltz.
• The Brewers are 4-2 on the season against Liberty League Tournament opponents, having defeated Clarkson in both their meetings while splitting matching against Union and RIT.
• Vassar leads the Liberty League in hitting percentage (.218), assists (11.57 per set), kills (12.36 per set), and service aces (17.85 per set).
• Devan Gallagher is second in the conference in both hitting percentage (.306) and kills (3.61 per set).
• Annie MacMillan is first in the conference in assists (10 per set) and second in service aces (.49 per set).
• Jane McLeod is currently 7^th in the conference in hitting percentage (.283) and 3^rd in kills (3.58).
• The Brewers are 20-4 in since they started out the season with a 0-5 skid against quality and ranked opponents. In these last 24 matches, all but one of Vassar's losses were in five-set matches, with none being three set sweeps.
• The Brewers have only lost two sets at home all season, one being last Saturday against Ramapo, and the other being on September 29^th against Hunter College. They are 33-2 in sets at home this season.
• Jonathan Penn, Vassar's head coach, registered his 500^th match win against Ramapo this Saturday. These 500 wins include 158 as the head coach of the men's volleyball team from 1996-2011.

 
A Look At The Tigers (21-17, 8-4 LL):

• RIT is coming into the tournament ranked fourth. The Tigers are 2-4 against this weekend's teams, with wins over Vassar (9/17) and Union (9/24).
• The Tigers are coming off a big tournament at the NYS Regional Challenge, upsetting NYU, while dropping matches to Stevens and Montclair State.
• RIT's gun, Sarah Szybist, put down her 2,500^th career kill, good for 745 on the season, a national high. She comes into the match averaging 5.07 kills/set (second nationally).
• Szybist recorded 30 kills in RIT's match victory over the Brewers on September 17^th, while only recording 11 kills when the Tigers were swept by Vassar on September 23^rd.
• RIT's hitting percentage is .196, good for second in the Liberty League, averaging 12.06, just shy of Vassar's 12.36.
• To add, the squad holds their opponents to just 12.28 digs/set, a conference high.
• With 63 aces on the season, RIT's Maria Simonetti leads the conference in aces/set.
• The Tigers are second in the Liberty League in kills (12.06 per set) and assists (11.17 per set).
• The Tigers are the only team in the Liberty League Tournament not currently ranked in the top ten in the New York region.
• While the Tigers are on a bit of a skid, their recent losses came against Montclair State, Stevens, Brockport, and Carnegie Mellon which are all either ranked in the top ten in the New York region or ranked nationally.

 
Against RIT All-Time: Vassar and RIT have met 28 times with a record of 10-18 overall. Earlier this season the Brewers slit their two matches against RIT, losing the match on September 17 (1-3) and winning their match on September 23 (3-0). 
 
A Look At The Golden Knights (19-14, 9-3 LL):

• Clarkson is coming off a big weekend in Atlanta. Though the team was 0-4, they saw great competition and took two very respectable teams to five.
• The Golden Knights come into the weekend 3-3 against these opponents. Vassar topped Clarkson by just 2 points in a five set thriller (10/22) to determine the location of this weekend's competition.
•  The squad has faced four ranked teams to date. Clarkson is currently ranked 7^th in regionally.
• Offensive standout, Rachel Reusch is hitting .324 this season, best in the league.
• The other big force, Rachel Aird, averages 3.52 kills/set, good for 443 on the season.
• Clarkson's setter, Jillian Saenz has accumulated 1137 assists this season, good for 16^th nationally.
• Defensive star, Kate Isaksen averages 5.86 digs/set on 738 total digs.
• Clarkson leads the Liberty League in digs per set, averaging 17.85
• The Golden Knights additionally top the conference in opponent hitting percentage, holding their completion to 14.6% hitting.
• Clarkson was 19-8 before a six game skid coming into this weekend. However, four of those six losses were in close matches that went to five sets.

 
Against Clarkson All-Time: Vassar is 13-15 all-time against Clarkson. The Brewers faced off against Clarkson twice this season, winning the first match 3-1 and the second 3-2.
 
A Look At The Dutchwomen (24-11, 8-4 LL):

• After a strong outing at the third Liberty League weekend, the Dutchwomen snuck past RIT to grab the #3 seed for this weekend.
• Union is coming off two big wins over Vassar and Clarkson, both in 5 sets, giving them great confidence for this weekend.
• Most recently, the squad won the Skidmore Invitational, with key victories over SUNY Geneseo and New Paltz, both in 5 sets.
• Union has been nearly untouchable in five set contests, holding a 7-3 edge over opponents they take to five sets.
• The team comes into the weekend ranked fifth regionally, thanks to big victories over Stevens - #1 (9/30), Vassar - #6 (10/22), Clarkson - #7 (10/23), and New Paltz - #10 (10/29).
• Strong defense is the name of the game for Union, with 17.6 digs/set led by libero Katherine Moeller with 5.79 digs/set.
• The Dutchwomen are second in the Liberty League in digs, registering an average of 17.63 per set.
• This is in large part due to Katherine Moeller who is averaging 5.76 digs per set.
• Amanda Price is third in the conference in assists per set with 9.17.
• Union was 3-3 this season against teams in the Liberty League Tournament, splitting the season series with all three teams. 

 
Against Union All-Time: Vassar has a record of 39-15 all-time against Union. The two teams met earlier this season twice, with Vassar winning the first match 3-0 and the Dutchwomen winning the second match 2-3.

Up Next:  Friday's winners will face off Saturday in the Liberty League Championships, and the winner of that match will head to NCAA's next weekend, location TBA.