ROCHESTER, NY (September 16, 2016) – The Vassar College women's volleyball team opened Liberty League play Friday evening in fine fashion, as the Brewers knocked off St. Lawrence University and Bard College in play from Rochester Institute of Technology. Vassar knocked off SLU with scores of 25-17, 15-25, 25-23 and 25-15, before taking down the Raptors 25-19, 27-25 and 25-18.

Friday marked the second time in the last three seasons that the Brewers earned wins in the first two matches of the year. "Always good to open up conference play with a couple of wins," said head coach Jonathan Penn. "Got to see a lot of good play out of many people, which also sets us up well for tomorrow. Just need to stay determined and aggressive."

Vassar 3, St. Lawrence 1
The Vassar College attack was once again very potent Friday in the opening match of the day, as the Brewers connected on a hitting percentage of .230 to earn the four-set win. Five Brewer hitters had six or more kills, led by the 12 from sophomore Devan Gallagher.

The first set was a game of runs, as SLU (5-6, 0-1 Liberty League) started the match with four straight points. Vassar would put together a 7-1 run after that, followed by another 7-0 spurt to take a 15-8 lead after an ace from Annie MacMillan.

St. Lawrence cut the lead to three at 15-12 after a 4-0 run, but Vassar turned in another 7-0 run to pull away for the 1-0 match advantage. After the Saints evened the match at one, Vassar turned around chalked up a match-best 15 kills to take another set lead. At one point in the third, VC led 14-6, but St. Lawrence battled all the way back to tie the game at 19.

VC scored five of the next six points, and clinched the set on a Jane McLeod kill. The fourth set was all Brewers, as they held St. Lawrence to negative hitting in the set to earn the Liberty League opener for both teams.

In addition to Gallagher's 12 kills, junior Bria Corham had a great match, turning in 11 kills along with four service aces, five digs and two aces. McLeod also finished with eight kills and eight digs, while Gabby Miller chalked up seven terminations. Setter Annie MacMillan dished out 40 assists in addition to four aces and seven digs, while Alex Sams posted six successful attacks and five total blocks. Freshman Jorden Schreeder led all players with 12 digs.

Vassar 3, Bard 0
The Brewers were tested at times by the Raptors of Bard, but a team effort by 14 players for Vassar was too much as VC pulled away for the win. 11 players contributed kills in the match for the Brewers, led by the 11 each from McLeod and Gallagher.

The second set was a thriller, as Bard tried to get back into the match, but the Brewers shook off the challenge from the Raptors. In the set, Vassar let 23-18 but Bard turned in a 6-1 run to tie the game at 24 after a kill from Sofia Koukia. Gallagher chalked up two more kills for VC over the last three points, as VC went up by two games en route to the sweep.

Sams added seven as well, while Jennifer Kerbs also had four in her one set of action for VC. MacMillan also added 28 assists and eight digs, and senior Sierra Tobin posted 14 digs to lead all Vassar players. McLeod also finished with 12 digs, as the Brewers chalked up a .183 hitting percentage.

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Vassar (6-5, 2-0 Liberty League) will look to extend its six-match winning streak Saturday afternoon, taking on Clarkson University and Rochester Institute of Technology at 2 and 4 p.m. from Rochester, NY.