CAMBRIDGE, MA (March 5, 2016) – The No. 12 Vassar College men's volleyball team chalked up one of its best wins in recent memory on Saturday afternoon, starting a big United Volleyball Conference (UVC) tri-match with a 3-2 win over No. 6 Nazareth College. Vassar would drop its nightcap to host Massachusetts Institute of Technology in four games.

VC topped the fifth-ranked Golden Flyers with scores of 20-25, 25-21, 25-22, 19-25 and 15-9, before falling to MIT 25-23, 25-23, 18-25 and 25-21. The win over Nazareth was the first for Vassar since 2010, a span of 13 matches while earning only the fourth win over the Golden Flyers in the series history.

No. 12 Vassar 3, No. 6 Nazareth 2
Saturday's win over the Golden Flyers for the Brewers was their highest win over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 4 New York University in three games back on January 25, 2012. It didn't come easy though, as Naz (17-5, 2-2 UVC) made the Brewers work for each game.

In the opening set Vassar struggled offensively, hitting just .129 as Nazareth took and controlled the first set thanks to an early 7-1 run. VC (14-5, 3-3 UVC) struggled to side out in the set, posting just a 12-25 (47 percent) ratio in the opening stanza.

Things improved though in the second game for the Brewers, siding out at a 76 percent clip. The set was back and forth for nearly the entirety, as Nazareth took a 17-15 lead on an ace by John McCarty. Vassar battled back to notch the next four points, capped by being awarded a point by the official to push out to a 21-18 edge. Naz pulled to within one at 21-20, but an error by the Flyers and a kill by freshman George Diehl gave VC its three-point lead, an advantage it would hold onto the rest of the way.

In the third frame, Vassar rushed out to a 13-4 lead, finished by a kill from senior Erik Halberg. The Golden Flyers didn't go away, as they rallied to tie the match at 17 after a block by Chris Mahan and Sam Bittker. The teams would trade points over the next six serves before Vassar used a 4-0 run to pull away for the set win, powered by kills from Reno Kriz and Halberg. 

The Golden Flyers were determined to push the match to five games, and that's what they did, holding Vassar to negative hitting in the fourth frame in sending the match to five sets. In the decisive fifth, Vassar scored eight of the first 10 points thanks to some great net defense by the Brewers. Matthew Knigge chalked up four total rejections during the run to lead VC.

Down 8-2, Nazareth used one last-ditch effort to rally, going on a 6-2 run to make the score 11-8, but Vassar wouldn't be denied as the Brewers earned the huge league win. Reno Kriz chalked up a match-best 21 kills for Vassar, adding eight digs, while Knigge finished with nine kills and six rejections. Zechariah Lee posted a double-double of 43 assists and 11 digs, while Quinn Rutledge finished with a team-high 13 digs for the Brewers.

MIT 3, No. 12 Vassar 1
The second match of the day for the Brewers was close throughout, but the toll of playing a five-setter just before taking on the host Engineers seemed to play a factor. Each team hit well in the finale of the afternoon, as VC held a slight .333-.318 edge in hitting, but the balanced attack from MIT was enough to pull in the win.

In the first set, Vassar led for the majority of the set, but MIT rallied on the strength of a 5-1 run midway through the stanza to make the score 21-19. Vassar cut the score to a one-point deficit on four occasions, but the Engineers held onto the set thanks to a kill at the end by Sean Kropp.

After MIT earned the second game by leading from start to finish, the Brewers rallied to take the third thanks to hitting .538 in the game in posting the 25-18 win, as Brian Manley led the way with four kills in the game. It wasn't enough though in the end, as MIT captured the match in the fourth by using a late 6-2 spurt to pull away.

Knigge registered a team-high 16 kills for the Brewers, hitting 16-1-22 (.682) for the contest, while Kriz posted 14 kills on 34 swings. Manley finished the match with eight kills, and Trey Cimorelli registered a match-best 13 digs. Rutledge contributed 10 kills and four digs, and Lee also had 49 helpers and six digs. Kriz and Knigge each also had four assisted blocks apiece.

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Vassar sits in fourth place right now in the UVC heading into a non-conference home match on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. against Baruch College in Kenyon Hall.