SPRINGFIELD, MA (February 3, 2017) – The No. 9 Vassar College men's volleyball team played its most complete match of the season, blistering the No. 6 Violets of New York University offensively in earning a 3-0 win Friday in action from the International Volleyball Hall of Fame Classic, hosted by Springfield College. With the win, Vassar will play in the title match against No. 1 Springfield, who defeated No. 8 Kean University in three sets in the late match.
 
The Brewers (6-4) hit a season-best .431 on the day, spreading the offense around while also posting 12 blocks in the 25-11, 25-13, 25-15 dominating performance. Vassar posted a side-out percentage of 79 percent for the evening, and chalked up nine service aces on the sixth-ranked Violets.
 
The first set was all Brewers, as Vassar (6-4) put together 10 finishes on just 15 attempts, hitting .600 in rolling to the early lead. VC scored eight of the first 11 points of the match, and after NYU (4-2) trimmed the score to 11-6, Vassar posted another 6-0 run capped by a Yoni Auerbach kill to take a 17-6 advantage. The Violets made the score 19-11, but VC finished the set on yet another six-point run to take the game.
 
In the second set, NYU captured its only lead of the set at 3-2 on a block by Andrew Zhu and Neil Ferraro, but VC roared back with four straight points to take a 6-3 edge. NYU climbed to within one on a pair of occasions, but VC fended off the Violets defensively as NYU hit just -.111 for the set.
 
In the third game, the Brewers led from start to finish, pulling away thanks to a 7-0 run midway through the set to breeze into the title match of the Hall of Fame Classic. Vassar saw five players post four or more kills during the balanced attack, led by sophomore George Diehl and his seven kills on nine attacks. Diehl added three solo and three assisted blocks as well.
 
Auerbach continued his fantastic play of late for the Brewers, as the southpaw posted six winners on 11 attempts, adding two digs and five total blocks. Senior co-captain Christian Lizana registered five terminations and three service aces, and junior Matt Knigge pounded down five of his seven attempts while assisting on three blocks and booking three aces as well.
 
Vassar won almost every statistical category on the night, including topping NYU in digs (27-17), kills (28-19), blocks (12-3), and aces (9-0). Vassar finished with a hitting clip of 28-6-51 (.431), while the Violets finished with 24 errors while swinging at a -.068 mark. Junior setter Zechariah Lee added 22 assists, five digs and two blocks, and senior co-captain Trey Cimorelli continued his march towards 1,000 digs with a match-best nine Friday. Cimorelli now has 939 on his tenure with VC.
 
The Brewers will participate in a volleyball skills clinic with local youths with the other three teams in the Classic during the day on Saturday, before taking on the host Pride at 8 p.m. in Blake Arena in the Classic match.