MARCY, NY (January 20, 2017) – The No. 8 Vassar College men's volleyball squad earned two non-conference wins on Friday evening, knocking off Elms College and Lakeland College (WI) in three games to start a busy weekend of action at the SUNY Poly Wildcat Invitational, hosted by SUNY Poly.

The Brewers started the day's work against Elms, earning a 25-16, 25-21 and 25-18 win over the Blazers (1-1), followed by knocking off the Muskies of Lakeland (0-2) with scores of 25-20, 25-19 and 25-18. With the wins, Vassar moved over .500 for the first time this season.

"Elms and Lakeland each provided a very different challenge, and our guys did a good job of staying focused from start to finish," said head coach Richard Gary. "Getting everybody in with some serious time really showed our depth and gave us a great opportunity to weather the storms that are inevitable in a long college season."

Vassar (3-2) was strong offensively throughout the match against Elms, as Vassar connected for 36 kills on 72 swings, hitting .333. VC also chalked up a season-best nine aces in the match, led by the four from junior setter Zechariah Lee. Coming into the match, Lee had been held off the ace ledger for the season, after leading VC in the category his first two seasons.

The balanced attack proved difficult for the Blazers Friday evening, as five Brewer players had five or more terminations for the match. Freshman Yoni Auerbach had a very strong match for VC, hammering down seven kills on nine swings, while chalking up three digs as well. Junior Matthew Knigge added seven finishes, five digs and three blocks, while senior co-captain Christian Lizana also contributed seven terminations and three digs.

Junior Brian Manley played all three sets, and put down five of his seven attempts, while also posting three service aces along the way. Freshman Kevin Ros picked up a career-high five kills to go with four digs, while Lee dished out 27 helpers and collected three kills of his own.

In the nightcap, Lizana starred for the Brewers with a match-best 14 kills as VC rolled to the win. Vassar chalked up 14 kills in each of the first two sets, and followed it up with 12 terminations in the third game to clinch the match.

Sophomore George Diehl hit .588 for the match thanks to his 12 kills on 17 attempts, and Knigge chalked up eight kills and six assisted blocks. Senior Quinn Rutledge added four kills, four digs and five total blocks, and Lee had a strong match with 31 assists, three digs and five rejections. Senior co-captain Trey Cimorelli added a match-high 12 digs as well.

"Great team effort today," said Gary. "We're working a lot of new things, and our serve and block is really blossoming earlier than expected…Very excited for some great competition again tomorrow."

Vassar will take on No. 9 Wentworth Institute of Technology at 11 a.m. before finishing the weekend against Wells College at 1 p.m. in more non-conference action.