CAMBRIDGE, MA (February 10, 2018) – The No. 13 Vassar College men's volleyball team welcomed new United Volleyball Conference (UVC) member St. John Fisher to the league with a 3-0 win in action from the Rockwell Cage on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. VC earned the win with scores of 25-12, 25-13 and 25-22.
 
In the first set, Vassar (7-3, 1-0 UVC) scored 11 of the first 13 points in cruising to the early match lead. The Brewers hit .625 in the opening set, led by senior Matthew Knigge and his five kills on as many attacks. Vassar also five blocks as well to earn the first set, which was clinched on a kill from senior setter Zechariah Lee.
 
In the second set, the Brewers once again jumped out to a quick lead, taking an 8-2 edge after a kill by sophomore Yoni Auerbach. St. John Fisher (6-5, 0-1 UVC) climbed to within four at 11-7 after an ace by Mike Strumpfler, but Vassar forced back to back attacking errors to force a timeout by the Cardinals.
 
After the stoppage, Vassar picked up two more points on an ace by Knigge and an assisted block by freshman Ryan Duchemin and Lee. The lead would prove to be plenty as the Brewers hit .417 for the stanza, posting seven kills on 12 attacks while adding five aces to take a 2-0 match lead.
 
Vassar started the third set strong, earning five of the opening six points but St. John Fisher rallied back to force a timeout after tying the game at 7-7 on an ace by Paul Hackford. Out of the timeout, VC regained its lead but St. John Fisher wouldn't go away, leveling the score again at 12-12 before taking its first lead of the match on a block.
 
The Cardinals would grow their lead to as much as six at 20-14 before the Brewers posted three points highlighted by a big solo block by Duchemin to force a SJF timeout. Following the timeout, Vassar posted three straight rejections by Duchemin to tie the match at 20 before an ace by sophomore Kevin Ros gave the Brewers the lead at 21-20.
 
St. John Fisher stopped the Vassar 8-0 run to make the score 22-21, but two kills by junior George Diehl along with an attacking error sealed the win for the Brewers. Knigge led the offensive attack for the Brewers with 10 kills, hitting .643, while Diehl ended with five kills as well.
 
The Brewers hit .383 for the match, as Lee posted 19 assists, three aces and four blocks. The defensively output for the Brewers Saturday night was staggering, blocking 15.5 SJFC attempts on the match. Vassar now has 31.5 blocks in the last two matches, as the Brewers posted 16 against St. Joseph's College of Long Island its last time out. Duchemin led the way with nine total blocks, a career-high, while Knigge helped out with six of his own.
 
Ben De La Cruz led the Cardinals with six kills, while Hackford added 11 assists and three digs.
 
Vassar will continue UVC play Sunday morning at 11 a.m., taking on longtime conference rival Nazareth College at MIT.
 
--VASSAR--