UTICA, NY (January 19, 2018) -- The No. 4 Vassar College men's volleyball team opened its season on Friday evening at the 2018 SUNY Poly Invitational in action from the Wildcat Field House. The Brewers fell in four sets in their season opener though, dropping a decision to Wells College in non-conference action. VC would bounce back in the nightcap thought with a four-set victory over Eastern Mennonite University. 

Wells 3, Vassar 1
The Brewers, ranked No. 4 in the current American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), started slow in the match and couldn't rebound in falling to the Express in four sets with scores of 27-25, 22-25, 25-21 and 26-24. Vassar was led by sophomore outside hitter Kevin Ros, who finished with a career-high 21 kills on the day on just 28 attempts. Senior All-American Matthew Knigge finished the night with 13 kills and four total blocks, while fellow senior Brian Manley added seven kills on 10 attempts. 

Junior George Diehl finished with six kills and two assisted blocks, and senior setter Zechariah Lee added 39 assists and three blocks. Vassar hit a very strong .401 for the night, but couldn't get stops defensively as the Brewers finished with just 13 digs on the night. 

Vassar 3, EMU 1
The Brewers dropped the opening set for the second consecutive match on Friday, but this time found their footing and rallied back to earn a solid non-conference victory with scores of 23-25, 25-21, 25-23 and 25-23. 

Ros was once again strong on the outside for the Brewers, as he finished with 14 kills on 26 attempts, assisting on two blocks. Knigge chalked up 14 kills as well for Vassar, adding three aces, five digs and five rejections, while sophomore Yoni Auerbach hammered down eight terminations on 13 attempts. Diehl tallied eight kills for Vassar, and Lee handed out 39 assists to go with three aces. 

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Vassar battles No. 10 Wentworth Institute of Technology Saturday at 11 a.m. before finishing play at the SUNY Poly Invitational against Johnson & Wales University at 3 p.m. in Utica, NY.