POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (January 19, 2017) – The Vassar College men's volleyball team will look to rebound from a long California trip last weekend, taking on four teams including No. 9 Wentworth Institute of Technology in action from the SUNY Poly Invitational. No. 8 Vassar (1-2) dropped two of its three matches while on the West Coast, falling to Hope International and UC Santa Cruz which sandwiched a win over Cal Lutheran.
 
Game Details
Opponent: vs. Elms College (0-0) & Lakeland College (0-0)
Links: 
(Elm's Men's Volleyball Home Page) (Roster) (Schedule)
(Lakeland Men's Volleyball Home Page) (Roster) (Schedule)
Site: Utica, NY
Facility: Wildcat Field House
Date: January 20, 2017
Time: 6 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Live Coverage: (Video)
 
Game Details
Opponent: vs. Wentworth Institute of Technology (0-0) & Wells College (0-0)
Links: 
(Wentworth's Men's Volleyball Home Page) (Roster) (Schedule)
(Wells Men's Volleyball Home Page) (Roster) (Schedule)
Site: Utica, NY
Facility: Wildcat Field House
Date: January 21, 2017
Time: 11 a.m. & 1 p.m.
Live Coverage: (Video)
 
Last Time Out: Last Saturday evening, the Vassar College men's volleyball team dropped a non-conference bout to No. 6 UC Santa Cruz in three sets. VC's offense struggled on tired legs for much of the evening, hitting just .000 for the match. The Brewers did knock off California Lutheran earlier in the week in three games.
 
A Look At The No. 8 Brewers (1-2):
 

• Vassar comes into the weekend hitting .129 for the young season, which is below the .272 from last year's season.
• Junior preseason All-American Matthew Knigge has been strong thus far in the season, as he has posted 27 kills along with a hitting clip of .391. He also leads the team in aces and blocks.
• Senior Christian Lizana paces the team with 29 kills, averaging 2.90 a set while hitting .197 for the season. He also has 19 digs, second on the team.
• Senior Trey Cimorelli comes into the weekend as the squad's leading defender with 23 digs, averaging 2.30 per game.
• Sophomore George Diehl is third on the squad with 23 kills on 77 attempts, starting all three matches thus far. He is also third on the team in blocks with seven rejections.
• Head coach Richard Gary will take on his former team on Saturday afternoon, finishing the four-match tournament with a contest against Wells College at 1 p.m. at SUNY Poly.
• VC was picked No. 8 in the AVCA Preseason Poll, accumulating 132 points in the poll. VC is slated to take on 11 of the 15 teams ranked this season.
• Junior Zechariah Lee has dished out 83 helpers on the season so far, but is still looking for his first ace of the season after leading the team each of his first two years.

 
A Look At The Blazers (0-0):
 

• Elms comes into the year after finishing 12-15 last year, going 4-6 in New England Collegiate Conference.
• EC is picked to finish third in the NECC this season, earning 33 points in the Men's Volleyball Preseason Poll.
• Head Coach Sheila Gisbrecht (9^th Season) will be returning 10 players from the 2016 squad, including juniors Gabriel Reis Levy (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Daniel Bondarovsky (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). 
• Reis Levy earned All-NECC First Team honors after ranking second in the NECC in kills per set (2.93) and fourth in total kills with a career-high 275 kills, while adding 154 digs, 40 blocks, and 21 service aces.
• Bondarovsky claimed All-NECC Second Team status after posting a career-high 281 kills, tied for the league lead, while ranking fourth in kills per set (2.81) and total blocks (67), and seventh in digs with 168.
• The Blazers will sport a roster of 15 this spring, with 10 of the players either a junior or senior.

 
A Look At The Muskies (0-0):
 

• Lakeland University will open its season this weekend, having gone 17-9 last year while posting a 10-3 record in the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League.
• The Muskies will join the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference in 2018, which will be the third conference for Lakeland over the last five seasons.
• Lakeland is located just outside of Milwaukee, WI, and features rostered players in 2017 from Illinois, Hawaii, Florida, California, Wisconsin and Arizona.
• Second-year head coach Ryan Schopf returns All-MCVL outside hitter Matt Stolz, who led the team in kills with 282 last season. He posted a season-high 22 last year against Wittenberg.
• Setter Addison Mertler is back after pacing the team in assists last year with 772, including a season-best 62 against Benedictine.
• Tim Robbins paced the Muskies in blocks in 2016 with 80, while Kyle Krogstad added 200 digs defensively.

 
A Look At The Leopards (0-0):
 

• Wentworth comes into the weekend ranked No. 9 in the AVCA Preseason Poll, after going 23-9 in 2016.
• The Leopards were picked to win the Great Northeast Athletic Conference this year, earning six first-place votes along with 62 overall points.
• Wentworth returns nine letter winners from a season ago, including five student-athletes who were named to the All-GNAC team in 2016. 
• Senior Alex Potts, a Second Team All-American from a season ago and a pre-season All-American by Off the Block, who, along with classmate Jake Reed were named First Team All-GNAC. 
• Senior Mike Rogochefsky as well as juniors Jon Roat and Sean Mullen return to the Leopards after earning Second Team All-GNAC honors last season.
• Junior Collin Ritter also returns for the Black & Gold after missing last season. Ritter was a Second Team All-GNAC selection during the 2015 season.

 
A Look At The Express (0-0):
 

• Head coach Mark Lucas took over for now-Vassar head coach Richard Gary this fall, and will be in his first year as the head coach for the Express.
• Wells was picked fifth among nine teams in the North Eastern Athletic Conference Men's Volleyball Preseason Poll. Wells earned 32 points in the poll, 10 points behind Keuka College and four points ahead of D'Youville College
• The Express returns five players and four starters to the 2017 roster. Among the returning players is junior Brannon Perdicho, who earned All-NEAC Second Team honors in 2016.
• Wells finished 10-20 overall and 6-10 in NEAC matches last season.
• The Express returns Scott Litvin as the top setter option, as he posted 355 helpers last season, second best on the squad.

 
Up Next: Vassar will travel to Kean University on Saturday, January 28 to take on ranked Rivier College and Eastern Mennonite University in non-conference action from the Clash at Kean.