POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (March 25, 2016) – The No. 10 Vassar College men's volleyball team will get set to host the biggest two matches of its season on Saturday, as two ranked opponents from the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) come to Kenyon Hall for a league tri-match. The Brewers take on Elmira College at 11 a.m., before hosting top-ranked New Paltz Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. in the final league match of the season. The two visiting teams will meet at 1:30 p.m.

Match Details
Opponent: vs. No. 9 Elmira College (20-7, 2-4UVC)
Links: (Elmira Men's Volleyball Homepage) (Schedule) (Roster) (Stats)
Location: Poughkeepsie, NY
Facility: Kenyon Hall
Date: March 26, 2016
Time: 11:00 a.m.
Live Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)

Opponent: vs. No. 1 New Paltz (24-2, 6-0 UVC)
Links: (New Paltz Men's Volleyball Homepage) (Schedule) (Roster) (Stats)
Location: Poughkeepsie, NY
Facility: Kenyon Hall
Date: March 26, 2016
Time: 4:00 p.m.
Live Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)

What To Look For
The United Volleyball Conference Tournament is quickly approaching, and the Hawks of New Paltz already know they will be playing host to the six-team playoff. Everyone behind them is still fighting for either a playoff spot or a higher seed, but the Soaring Eagles and Brewers are both in need of a win to make the tournament. Right now, New Paltz leads the conference with a 6-0 record, followed by the 4-2 records from both Stevens Institute of Technology and New York University. Nazareth College is 3-2, Vassar is 3-3 along with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but MIT holds the tie-break over the Brewers to a win earlier in the season. Elmira is 2-4, but a win over VC would be huge for its hopes of making the tournament. VC needs just one win on Saturday to clinch a spot in the UVC Tournament.

A Look At The Soaring Eagles (20-7, 2-4 UVC)
Elmira College has won three straight matches coming into this weekend's trimatch at Vassar, earning a 3-2 win over Medaille College, a five-set victory over Cal Lutheran on March 19 and a four-set triumph over Keuka College on March 24. Before that though, the Eagles had struggled, dropping three straight including league matches against Stevens and Nazareth College. Looking at the statistics, Elmira is sixth in the UVC in hitting percentage thus far this season, hitting .266 on the year, playing the most sets of any team in the conference so far. Elmira is holding opponents to a hitting rate of .206, while also posting 1.89 blocks per set, again sixth in the UVC. The Soaring Eagles do a nice job on the serve, posting 1.76 aces per game, third-highest in the conference.

The Eagles have the conference's leading hitter in kills per set in Erik Griffin, who has posting 316 total kills in 75 sets of action this season for a rate of 4.21 per game. Teammate Mike Ellison adds 2.91 terminations a game for the Eagles, and setter Carlos Faccio is third in the UVC in assists per game with 10.24, while also chalking up the most aces a game in the league with 0.68 a stanza. Elmira does not have a player in the top 10 of either blocks or digs on the UVC leaderboards.

Against Elmira All-Time
The Brewers are 2-3 all-time against the Soaring Eagles, having lost the last two matches with Elmira. Saturday's match with EC will be the first played in Kenyon Hall between the two teams, as four of the five have come in neutral sites.

A Look At The Hawks (24-2, 6-0 UVC)
The top-ranked New Paltz Hawks will mark the third time this season that Vassar has taken on the No. 1 team in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 15 poll. Firing on all cylinders this season, the Hawks have a legitimate chance at winning the national championship this season, thanks to a very balanced offense and one of the best defenses in the nation. New Paltz started the season 1-2, taking a trip to Puerto Rico where it lost to a pair of teams in P.R., but since then, it has rattled off 23 straight wins including defeating every NCAA team it has played this year. In fact, of the Hawk's 24 wins, only eight have gone longer than three games. The Hawks lead the conference in hitting by a wide margin with an astounding .391 team clip, while also pacing the UVC in assists, kills, and opponent's kills per set. New Paltz also is registering 2.28 aces per game, the best in the league.

Individually, Steven Woessner leads the squad and the nation in hitting percentage, earning kills on 55.3 percent of his attempts, though he has three other teammates in the top 10 in hitting percentage. Jake Roessler is eighth in the UVC in kills per set with 3.02, also hitting .392 while posting 157 kills. Andy Fishman hits .409, and Christopher Husmann hits at a .458 rate. Joe Norman supplements the attack with 3.02 kills per set, while setter Christian Smith deals out 10.31 helpers a game. Fishman, Woessner and Norman are ranked in the top six in aces, and Kevin Nardone is seventh in the UVC in digs with 1.79 a game.

Against New Paltz All-Time
Dating back to 2001, the Brewers and New Paltz have had a healthy rivalry across the Hudson River. New Paltz holds a 15-10 lead in wins over the Brewers, as the Hawks have won the last five meetings between the two teams.

RK-Ohhh
Senior Reno Kriz has continued to climb the kill list at Vassar College this season, as he sits in third all-time in terminations with 1,278, passing Brent Starks and his 1,217 from 1994-97. He also has 311 kills in 2016, the 19^th best season for kills ever at Vassar.

Amazing Matt
Sophomore Matt Knigge is having one of the all-time great seasons for a Vassar hitter, as he his third in the country in hitting with a .511 percentage, while also posting 246 terminations.

Streaking
The Brewers have won six straight coming into the weekend, which is the fifth-longest current win streak in the nation. It's tied for the second-longest win streak over the last 16 seasons, eclipsed only by the 13-match stretch in 2008.

Offensively On Track
Vassar's offense this season has been very strong, ranking 10^th in the nation in kills per set with 12.40 while also ranking 10^th in Division III in hitting percentage with a .286 rate.

Try Again
Sophomore middle Matthew Knigge is currently ranked third nationally and leads the UVC in blocks per set with 1.20 a game, while freshman George Diehl is 41^st in the category with 0.85 a game.

Creeping Close
Head coach Rob Wolter is creeping up on his 100^th win of his career at Vassar College, as he currently sits with 87 victories after his win Wednesday over York (NY).

Trey Digger
Junior Trey Cimorelli has continued to dominate the dig touches for Vassar, as his 216 this season are the 14^th most in a season ever at Vassar. He has 787 digs for his career, which are just 31 short of moving into fourth all-time at Vassar. He is also on pace to become just the second player in history to earn 1000 digs.

Four Or More
The Brewers this season have won 11 matches in three games, but have only lost once in straight sets. VC has only pushed three matches to five sets this year, winning all three.

Up Next
Vassar will host New York University (10-11) on Thursday for a non-conference match with the Violets in Kenyon Hall at 7 p.m.