SPRINGFIELD, MA (February 27, 2016) – The No. 9 Vassar College men's volleyball team traveled to Blake Arena to face No. 1 Springfield College on Saturday afternoon, falling to the top-ranked Pride before turning around and defeating Lasell College in three games in a non-conference tri-match. Vassar lost to Springfield with scores of 25-18, 25-19 and 25-15, but responded with a 25-21, 25-22, 25-7 win over Lasell.

No. 1 Springfield 3, No. 9 Vassar 0
Sophomore middle hitter Matthew Knigge chalked up a match-best 15 kills for the Brewers, but it wasn't enough as the potent Springfield offense hit .430 to earn the victory. Vassar (12-4) had a total of 31 kills in the match, one of which came from top hitter senior Reno Kriz.

Vassar stayed with the Pride early on in the first set, but the host team went on an 8-2 run to take a 16-9 advantage. A kill by sophomore Zechariah Lee trimmed the Springfield (19-1) edge to 18-15, but the number one team notched six of the next seven points to pull away for the early lead.

In the second set, the Pride offense took control, hitting an alarming .739 for the game. In the set, Springfield posted 17 kills on 23 attempts without any errors. VC's offense wasn't nearly as effective in the final set, erring seven times, allowing Springfield to close the match with a 25-15 win.

Knigge earned his 15 kills on 29 swings, hitting .414 for the match, and Lee finished with 24 assists and five digs. Junior Trey Cimorelli added six digs for Vassar while junior Christian Lizana contributed four kills in the loss. Trevor Mattson posted 11 kills for the Price, while Ricardo Padilla Ayala led SC with 13 terminations.

No. 9 Vassar 3, Lasell 0
Aided by solid hitting from Kriz, Knigge and sophomore Brian Manley, the Brewers rebounded from the loss to Springfield with a solid victory over Lasell. Vassar hit .488 in the contest against the Lasers, specifically .533 and .647 in the second and third set, respectively.

In the opening stanza, Vassar staked itself out to as much as a six-point lead at 18-12 after a kill from Manley but Lasell (9-9) rallied to pull Lasell within two at 18-16. A kill from freshman George Diehl stopped the run, giving the Brewers the momentum to hold at least a two-point spread over the Lasers for the rest of the game. Manley was unstoppable in the opening game, earning five terminations for VC.

In the second set, the Brewers used a five-point run midway through the set to take an 11-8 edge after a kill from Kriz. Following a timeout by LC, Vassar quickly built lead of five at 16-11 but once again Lasell would not go away, tying the set at 18 on a block by Andy Henriquez and Tristan Davis.

Junior Quinn Rutledge earned the next point for Vassar with a kill, a lead the Brewers maintained throughout the remainder of the second set.

Vassar outmatched the Lasers throughout the third game, holding LC to -.333 hitting while connecting on 12 kills on 17 swings to pull away for the lob-sided victory. After achieving 16 terminations in the second set, Lasell fell short in the third with only two.

Kriz bounced back strongly for the Brewers in the second match of the day with 11 kills on 20 swings (.500), adding five digs and three blocks. Knigge hit .692 (10-1-13) for the match, also rejecting a team-high five attacks, while Manley finished with 10 kills on 18 attempts.  Lee added 36 assists and nine digs, both team-bests, as Diehl and Rutledge each finished with seven kills for Vassar.

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The Brewers will now turn their attention to another non-conference match, traveling to Albany, NY Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. to take on the Gators of The Sage Colleges.