MARCY, NY (January 21, 2017) – The Vassar College men's volleyball team finished play Saturday afternoon in action from the SUNY Poly Wildcat Invitational, dropping a four-set match to No. 9 Wentworth Institute of Technology before topping Wells College in four sets as well.
 
The Brewers (4-3) fell to Wentworth with scores of 25-22, 23-25, 25-20 and 25-23, before finishing the weekend with a 25-27, 25-20, 25-19 and 25-21 victory over the Express of Wells. With the split, Vassar stayed over .500 for the season after the sweep on Friday night of Elms College and Lakeland College.
 
In the opening match against the ninth-ranked Leopards, Vassar was strong defensively, holding WIT (3-0) to just .173 hitting for the match. Unfortunately for VC, the Brewers totaled 25 errors as Wentworth chalked up 18.5 blocks for the match.
 
Junior Matthew Knigge continued his strong start to the season, as the Preseason All-American finished with a match-best 14 kills on 24 attacks. Sophomore George Diehl only got 10 attempts off, but pounded down six terminations, and senior Christian Lizana also had nine kills and two digs. Fellow senior Trey Cimorelli posted a team-high 14 digs, and freshman Yoni Auerbach posted six kills and eight digs.
 
Junior Brian Manley was strong with the serve with four aces, and junior setter Zechariah Lee dished out a match-best 32 assists to go with four kills, two aces and five digs. Senior Quinn Rutledge also added six kills and four digs in the loss. VC finished with more kills (46-34) and aces (7-4), but the block total was the difference.
 
The second match of the day was a sentimental one for head coach Richard Gary, as he faced a team he had mentored for the last five seasons in Wells College. A balanced attack though for Vassar proved too much for the Express (0-3), as VC had five players with eight or more kills.
 
Wells didn't go lightly though, taking the first set after committing just three hitting errors in the game. VC would respond though, chalking up 14 kills in the second and fourth set to earn the win. Manley was dominant in the nightcap, hitting .750 with 10 kills on 12 attacks, blocking three Express attempts as well.
 
Diehl added 10 more kills, and Cimorelli added a match-best 15 digs for the Brewers. Rutledge contributed nine kills, three blocks and six digs, while Knigge and Lizana each had eight kills. Lee handed out 47 assists, missing a double-double by one dig with nine on the match.
 
The Brewers will take on Rivier College and Eastern Mennonite University next Saturday afternoon in the Clash at Kean University. Matches are set for noon and 2 p.m. in Union, New Jersey.
 
--VASSAR--