POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (February 3, 2018) -- The No. 14 Vassar College men's volleyball team rebounded from an early afternoon loss to top-ranked Springfield College to top St. Joseph's College of Long Island in the 2018 home opener Saturday in action from Kenyon Hall. VC dropped the first match of the day to the No. 1 Pride in three sets with score of 25-19, 25-14 and 25-22, but bounced back with a 24-26, 25-15, 25-17 and 25-15 over SJC-LI. 

No. 1 Springfield 3, No. 14 Vassar 0
Senior Matthew Knigge posted a match-best 13 kills for the Brewers, but Springfield hit .389 for the match to improve to 8-1 on the season. The visiting Pride attacked at a .500 rate during the opening set, followed by a .455 hitting percentage in the second game to pull away from Vassar. 

Knigge hit .250 for the day, needing 28 attempts to get to his 13 kills, while adding two assisted blocks as Vassar finished with eight total rejections. Junior George Diehl chalked up eight kills and five digs along with two assisted blocks, and freshman Ryan Duchemin led all players with five assisted rejections. Sophomore Kevin Ros also posted five kills and three blocks, and senior setter Zechariah Lee handed out 28 assists. Freshman Garth Verdeflor also posted five digs for Vassar, which hit .134 for the contest. 

Springfield was led by the nine kills from Sean Zuvich. 

No. 14 Vassar 3, SJC-LI 1
Knigge continued to lead the way in the day's finale, as he chalked up a team-leading 18 kills while adding seven assisted blocks and five digs in the four-set win for Vassar. 

The match started slow for VC, which had to use a 5-0 run midway through the opening game to take a 19-17 lead while forcing a Golden Eagles (3-3) timeout. VC built its lead up to as much as 23-19, but St. Joseph's-LI rallied with seven of the final eight points of the game to take a 1-0 match advantage. 

The final three sets would be all Vassar, as the defensive net presence of the Brewers was on full display. VC finished with 16 total blocks for the match, while forcing its opponents into .035 hitting for the match in coasting to the four-set win. 

Ros finished with 14 kills for the Brewers in assistance of Knigge, as Ros also posted 11 digs and two blocks. Verdeflor finished with a match-best 14 digs, and Lee filled the stat sheet with 48 assists, three aces, eight digs and three blocks. Diehl added nine kills, 10 digs and six total blocks for VC, as the Brewers hit .304 for the match while totaling 58 kills. Sophomore Zach Bygall was stout at the net as well, posting seven blocks including one solo stuff. 

Matthew Amberge totaled 10 kills for St. Joesph's-LI, while setter Tyler Jones added 25 assists and seven digs. 

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Vassar will head down to The Big Apple on Wednesday, February 7 to take on Hunter College in action against the ranked Hawks.