POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (March 4, 2017) – The No. 6 Brewers take on two ranked opponents, No. 14 MIT and No. 13 Juniata on Saturday, March 2 and 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.

Game Details
Opponent:  #14 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Links: (MIT Home Page)(Roster)(Schedule)(Statistics)
Site: Vassar College
Facility: Kenyon Hall
Date: March 2, 2017
Time:  11:00 am
Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)

Opponent: #13 Juniata College
Links: (Juniata Home Page)(Roster)(Schedule)(Statistics)
Site: Vassar College
Facility: Kenyon Hall
Date: March 2, 2017
Time:  3:00 pm
Coverage: (Live Stats) (Live Video)

A Look at the Brewers (13-6, 2-0 UVC):

• The Brewers look to continue rolling in the UVC (2-0), picking up victories over No. 2 Stevens and Elmira (2/18).
• Vassar recently moved up to No. 6 in the country, previously sitting at No. 8.
• Vassar's defensive play, both blocking and in the back row, holds opponents to an impressive .149 hitting percentage. The match against MIT will be a defensive contest, as MIT holds opponents to a .133 percentage, a conference-best.
• Senior libero Trey Cimorelli leads the conference in both total digs (175) and digs/set (2.73). He is good for 18^th in the nation.
• Junior middle Matthew Knigge continues to shine, ranked 13^th nationally in hitting percentage (.389), holding the #1 spot in blocks per set with 1.36. He has a great edge over the competition with 91 total stops. 
• Side by side with Knigge at the net, junior setter Zechariah Lee has added 63 blocks of his own, averaging .94 blocks/set.
• Setter Lee will look for his 2,500^th career assist this weekend. He'll need 40+ assists per match, as the junior currently has 2,417 total assists. 
• Vassar capitalizes on strong serving, lead by Matthew Knigge and Zechariah Lee, combining for 48 total aces.
• Also a milestone, senior outside hitter Christian Lizana is approaching his 500^th career kill. Sitting at 477, he needs just 23 more winners.
• Lizana has been a big offensive threat this season, averaging 2.38 kills/set, hitting .234. Lizana has taken the most swings of any Brewer this season.

A Look at the Engineers (16-3, 2-0 UVC):

• MIT is off to a great start, dropping just three matches thus far. MIT currently holds an 11 game win streak, their last loss January 28 to Johnson & Wales.
• The squad has topped four ranked opponents, #5 Wentworth Institute of Technology (1/31), #11 (no longer ranked) Nazareth (2/11), #11 Kean (2/17), #12 Lasell (2/23). The Engineers, having fallen to Lasell early in the season, managed to squeak past Lasell in five last week.
• MIT will look to sophomore middle Skyler Kaufman to get the job done. Kaufman is no. 13 in the nation in blocks/set with .96, while leading the team in hitting percentage (.429), averaging 2.39 kills/set.
• The Engineers play relentless defense, holding opponents to a UVC best, .133 hitting percentage. The team averages more than two extra digs per set than any other conference opponent, averaging 10.56 digs/set. The UVC next-best is Elmira, with 8.88 team digs/set.
• MIT spreads the offense well, averaging 12.37 kills/set. Three engineers average more than 2 kills/set.
• The widespread offense is a result of sophomore setter Yize Dong's hard work, averaging 9.7 assists/set. Dong was recently recognized as the UVC Player of the Week (2/20).

A Look at the Eagles (10-5, 5-1 CVC):

• Juniata has shown up well in conference action this season, 5-1 overall, dropping only to Stevenson (2/24).
• Juniata has proven to compete well against ranked opponents, taking a set off No. 2 UC Santa Cruz (1/21), going five with No. 3 SUNY New Paltz (1/28), and toppng No. 15 Marymount (2/18).
• The squad will rematch SUNY New Paltz Friday night, March 2, before playing Vassar the following day.
• Juniata outside hitter Quinn Peterson leads the team in both kills (192) and kills per set (3.62). This places him third in the CVC in KPS and second in kills.
• The team is strong from the middle, lead by junior Mahlon Bender (.443 percentage, 1.75 kps, .67 bps) and senior Kyle Seeley (.437 percentage, 2.72 kps, .91 bps).
• Juniata has picked up 3 of the 6 CVC Player of the Week honors this season. Most recently (2/20), freshman setter Michael Young was recognized for chalking up 40 assists against #15 Marymount. The rookie is averaging 9.38 assists/set.

Up Next: The Brewers will continue their home stand with a non-conference match up against No. 15 Marymount University. The game is set to take place in Kenyon Hall, Wednesday, March 8 at 7 p.m.