HEAD COACH RICHARD GARY POSTGAME INTERVIEW

SPRINGFIELD, MA (April 28, 2017) – Vassar College's historic season came to an end on Friday evening in the 2017 NCAA Championship quarterfinals, as the Brewers fell to United Volleyball Conference and local rival New Paltz in three games with scores of 25-19, 25-15 and 25-23.

The season for the Brewers ends with a school-record 26 wins, while also posting the longest win streak in program history with 13 consecutive wins, along with the first trip to the NCAA Tournament. Thursday evening, juniors Zechariah Lee and Matthew Knigge were honored with AVCA All-American honors.

The first set did not go well for the second-ranked Brewers, as the Hawks hit .414 in the period along with 17 kills to pick up the opening game. The story was the play from New Paltz senior Jake Roessler, as the right-side dynamo posted eight kills in the first game, including the set-clincher at 24-19.

Vassar was tied in the first set 13-13, but New Paltz posted four straight points including two kills from Roessler to take a 17-13 advantage. VC trimmed the Hawk edge to one at 17-16, but another 4-0 run from New Paltz was too much of a hole for Vassar to emerge from.

Things didn't get much better in the second set, as the Brewers struggled to get into system due to New Paltz's service game. VC posted just a 43 percent side-out percentage in the second set, while chalking up eight kills. In contrast, New Paltz stayed hot offensively with 16 more kills, hitting .333 in the stanza.

The set was close in the early going, as a service error by the Hawks made the score 4-4, while a block by Zechariah Lee and George Diehl gave the Brewers a quick lead at 5-4. New Paltz powered back with five straight points, three coming off the arm of Roessler to make the score 9-5 in favor of the Hawks. Vassar got as close as two on two different occasions, but New Paltz pulled away late.

In the third set, Vassar fell behind 17-11 but posted the next four points to pull to within two at 17-15 following an attacking error by New Paltz. The Brewers would once again rally late in the set, as Matthew Knigge chalked up a kill to make the score 23-22, but another kill from Roessler put the Hawks into the national semifinals.

Knigge paced the Brewers with 10 kills on 19 attempts, posting two assisted blocks and VC's lone service ace. Senior Christian Lizana posted six kills as well for Vassar, and sophomore George Diehl added five kills and three total rejections. Vassar hit .239 on the night (28-12-67), adding 23 digs including seven from senior Trey Cimorelli. Lee finished with 26 assists, two digs and three assisted blocks.

Roessler led all hitters with 26 kills, hitting .657 on 35 attempts, while Steven Woessner finished with 10 kills on 14 attacks. The Hawks posted a .383 hitting percentage on the day, as setter Matthew Grace chalked up 42 assists and five digs.