SANTA CRUZ, CA (January 14, 2017) – The No. 8 Vassar College men's volleyball squad faced its first ranked opponent of 2017, but were unable to get much going offensively as the Brewers fell to hosts and No. 6 ranked UC-Santa Cruz 3-0 Saturday evening. Final scores were 25-17, 25-13 and 25-20.

The Brewers (1-2) had troubles attacking all evening, which proved to be the story, as Vassar hit .000 (19-19-65) for the contest and posted just 19 total kills for the match. In contrast, the host Banana Slugs (1-0) were great at the net, hitting .394 for the match thanks to 37 terminations.

The first set was close for much of the game, as Vassar trailed by one at 17-16 after a kill from junior All-American Matthew Knigge. UC-Santa Cruz would go on a 8-1 run over the next nine points to close out the game, finishing the set on a block by Ryan McLaughlin and Raymond Cascio.

In the second, VC was held to a negative hitting percentage while the Banana Slugs were able to side-out at 84 percent to earn a two game advantage. In the final set, UCSC took an 8-2 lead after a kill from Gino Gamboa, but Vassar charged back into the set, pulling to within four after another termination by Knigge.

The hosts pushed their lead back up to nine at 19-10, and despite Vassar fending off six match points, UC-Santa Cruz was able to earn their first win of the season after a service error. During that stretch for Vassar, sophomore Daniel Halberg posted two aces while Knigge added a pair of blocks.

Vassar was paced by Knigge, who chalked up a team-best seven kills on 12 attempts, hitting .417 for the match. Freshman Kevin Ros, sophomore George Diehl and senior Christian Lizana each finished with three kills, and senior Trey Cimorelli added a team-best five digs. Knigge had a team-best three blocks, and freshmen Zach Bygall and Yoni Auerbach added a pair of assisted rejections.

UC Santa Cruz got a match-best 16 kills from Jake Howard, and Lake Merchen also posted eight kills and six digs. Cascio needed nine swings to post seven kills for the Banana Slugs, who sided out at a very strong 75 percent(39-52) ratio all night.

Vassar will return to the East Coast Sunday, followed by a trip to Utica, NY to take on four teams next weekend at the SUNY Poly Tournament. VC will battle Lakeland College and Elms College Friday, January 20, before taking on Wentworth Institute of Technology Saturday, January 21 at 11 a.m. The final match of the tournament will be a special one, as first-year head coach Richard Gary takes on his former lads in Wells College.