POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (March 6, 2018) – The Vassar College men's volleyball team, still ranked at No. 10 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll as of Tuesday afternoon, will travel to Cambridge, MA this weekend to take on Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stevenson University (MD) in action from the Rockwell Cage at MIT. Vassar is fresh off a Saturday sweep over No. 5 UC-Santa Cruz and SUNY Poly from Kenyon Hall.
 
Game Details 
Opponent: MIT (12-2, 2-2 UVC) & Stevenson University (11-6)
Site: Cambridge, MA
Facility: Rockwell Cage
Date: March 10, 2018
Time: 3:00 PM
Schedule: Vassar vs. MIT (3 PM); Vassar vs. Stevenson (5 pm)
Live Coverage: (Live Video)(Live Stats)  
 
Last Time Out: The Brewers picked up their highest win over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 2 New Paltz last year with a 3-1 victory over UC-Santa Cruz, highlighted by 22 kills from senior Matthew Knigge while junior George Diehl added a double-double of 15 terminations and 10 digs. Zechariah Lee also posted 43 assists, and Ryan Duchemin finished with eight kills and two aces. In the nightcap, VC breezed by SUNY Poly, thanks to 12 kills and six blocks from Knigge.
 
A Look at the Brewers (11-6, 3-1 UVC):

• The Brewers come into the weekend with the fifth-best blocking rate in the nation as a squad, posting 2.5 blocks per set as a squad.
• Senior Matthew Knigge is all over the active career leaderboard for the NCAA, as he is currently fourth in NCAA Division III in active kills with 1,119.
• Knigge is also first in all of NCAA volleyball with 478 total blocks for his career, while his 1.23 blocks per set is first in Division III and second in all of college volleyball. The next closest total blocks active leader is Dan Lutz of EMU with 337.
• Senior setter Zechariah Lee had a career mark of 3,503 total assists, second most of any college volleyball player active in 2017-18. He is also the current active leader in all of Division III volleyball in aces with 190.
• Junior George Diehl ranks 27^th in the United Volleyball Conference (UVC) right now in kills per set with 2.02, after chalking up a season-best 15 against UCSC.
• Vassar has three players ranked in the Top 10 in the UVC in service aces per set, as Lee (3^rd, 0.56), Knigge (7^th, 0.37) and freshman Jefferson Waters (8^th, 0.38) are all highlighted.
• As a team, Vassar is currently second in the UVC in hitting percentage against with a 0.134 rate, while also second in total attacks per set with 28.30.
• Oddly enough, VC and its opponents have an exactly same service percentage this year, successful on 76.6 percent of their serves.

 
A Look at the Engineers (12-2, 2-2 UVC):

• MIT is coming off a strong week, having knocked off three strong teams, including picking up a 3-1 win over No. 13 Wentworth Institute of Technology and No. 14 Eastern Mennonite University.
• Sophomore Thomas Nelson was named UVC Player of the Week as a libero, no small feat, as the star back row player posted 56 digs in three matches last week including 28 against EMU.  
• MIT is ranked in the top 20 in five statistical categories as a team nationally, leading the conference in digs per set with 11.30 a game.
• Nelson is first in the nation in digs per set with 3.70. Thanks to that, MIT lads the conference in hitting percentage against with a .128 clip for opposition.
• Middle Skylar Kaufman is fourth in the country and second in the UVC in hitting percentage at .445. He is also 13^th in the UVC in kills per set with 2.63.
• Tavish Smith is the leading hitter for the Engineers, averaging 3.36 terminations a game, which ranks 25^th nationally and fourth in the conference.
• Tize Dong is the top setter for the Engineers, as he dished out 8.86 assists per game while adding 2.02 digs per set.
• Vassar is 16-7 all-time against MIT, though the teams have split the last four meetings, alternating victories. Last season, Vassar defeated MIT in Poughkeepsie 3-0.

 
A Look at the Mustangs (11-6):

• The Mustangs are playing some strong volleyball of late, winning seven of their last eight matches coming into the weekend. One of those was against Division I Harvard on February 10.
• The only loss during that span was to ranked Eastern Mennonite University, but the Mustangs rebounded with a 3-0 win over Arcadia last week.
• Stevenson leads the MAC in blocks per set with 2.16 a set, ranking 16^th in the nation.
• The Mustangs are also 17^th nationally and second in the conference in hitting percentage, finishing attacks at a .251 rate.
• Landon Shorts is currently second in the nation in aces per set with 0.847 per game, while also ranking 23^rd in Division III in kills per game with 3.37.
• Alex Melbardis ranks as the team's top setter right now, posting 5.80 assist per set.
• Nate Reynolds leads the team in blocks per set with 1.083, also ranking first in the MAC and 10^th in the country.
• Jason Gardner supplements the offensive attach with 2.40 terminations a set, while Logan Smiley also posts 2.12 finishes a game.
• Vassar is 2-1 against Stevenson all-time, but all three matches have gone past the minimum including last year's 3-1 VC win. Previous to that, Vassar won in five games back in 2013, while the Mustangs earned a five-set win in 2012.

 
Up Next: Vassar will be off for 12 days before returning to action Thursday, March 22 on the road in a make-up of a previous postponement, taking on Hunter College in New York City at 4 p.m.