ARLINGTON, VA (March 24, 2017) – Junior middle hitter Matthew Knigge pounded down a career-high 20 kills Friday night, as the No. 4 Vassar College men's volleyball team fended off a rally from hosts Marymount University to earn a 3-2 win in non-conference action from the Verizon Sports Arena. VC won with scores of 26-24, 25-22, 24-26, 22-25 and 15-9.

The 20 terminations from Knigge were four more than his previous career high of 16, set on a pair of occasions as a sophomore in 2016. This season, his former high was 15 against Juniata College March 4 and New York University March 10.

The difference for the Brewers Friday evening was their blocking prowess, as Vassar posted 18 total blocks led by the nine from Knigge. The 18.0-6.0 block spread was the difference in the match, as Marymount (16-6) posted more kills (56-48) on the night.

Vassar (19-6) posted the opening set win, hitting .212, but trailed for much of the first set before posting four straight points to tie the set at 13. Marymount responded at 14-14 with five straight points to make the score 19-14, and led 22-17 before VC chalked up six consecutive points to take the lead on a Knigge kill. The Brewers would earn the opening set though, causing two hitting errors at 24-all to earn the early edge.

The second set saw the Saints take a 7-2 lead and led by as many as seven at 16-9 after an ace by Remington Shahan. VC would start to creep back into the set, eventually taking a 22-21 lead on a triple block by Zechariah Lee, Knigge and Quinn Rutledge. Vassar ended the set by scoring the last three points, all on errors by Marymount.

The Saints would respond in the third and fourth set to tie the match, hitting .321 and .345 in each of the games to pull even. In the fifth set, Vassar scored four straight at 6-all to take the advantage for good, fittingly clinching the match on a finish by Knigge.

Knigge posted his 20 kills on 29 attempts, hitting an astounding .586 while chalking up nine total rejections, eight of the assisted variety. Senior Christian Lizana posted seven kills and four digs, and freshman Yoni Auerbach added seven kills and four assisted blocks.

Lee posted five kills on his 10 attacks, adding 41 assists, five service aces, seven assisted blocks and six digs. Lee became the first player for the Brewers to chalk up a 5x5 line (five categories with five or more) since at least before 2000. Freshman Kevin Ros finished with nine digs for the Brewers, while senior Trey Cimorelli also added nine digs to lead the Brewers. VC hit .230 on the day, posting 48 total team kills.

TJ Wiechecki finished with 20 kills for the Saints, and Shahan posted 11 finishes as well for the Saints. Marymount hit .179 for the match, with Sam Safley posting nine kills and Graham Clark adding eight as well.

Vassar will be right back in action Saturday, heading north to Huntingdon, PA to take on Arcadia University and Juniata College at Juniata at 1 and 3 p.m. in more non-conference play.