NEW YORK (April 14, 2018) -- Senior Matt Knigge chalked up 15 kills to lead the offense, and fellow senior Zechariah Lee dished out 41 assists and led No. 7 Vassar College with 11 digs to helped the Brewers advance to their first-ever United Volleyball Conference (UVC) Championship match Saturday with a four-set win over No. 6 New Paltz in action from the Hunter Sportsplex.

No. 2 seed Vassar (22-6) won with scores of 25-20, 24-26, 25-21 and 25-19, and has now won 13 matches in a row move to within one of the school record of 14 set last season in 2017. The difference for the Brewers came at the net, as the Brewers posted a more efficient offensive attack at .252 while posting 10 total rejections. Those 10 blocks forced New Paltz into .159 hitting for the match, despite Vassar posting just a 48-47 edge in kills. 

In the opening set, New Paltz (19-8) led early through the opening set, but a 4-0 run by the Brewers pushed them in front 8-6. VC held its lead until the Hawks rallied to tie the set at 14-all. Vassar responded with another four-point run to force a NP timeout, as Knigge chalked up a kill and ace while sophomore Kevin Ros also posted a kill. 

The Hawks would get to within two at 22-20 after a kill from Aaron Carrk, but VC finished out the set to take the early lead after another kill from Knigge while Ros clinched the game on a termination. Knigge had five kills in the set, while freshman Jefferson Waters posted three kills on five swings. 

New Paltz evened the score at a set apiece in the second game, erasing a late lead by the Brewers at 19-17 to take control. The Hawks had a set point at 24-23, but VC fended it off thanks to a service error by New Paltz. The third-seed Hawks would persevere though, forcing two errors by VC to claim the set. 

In the third, New Paltz showed the early momentum after a 5-0 run to take a 9-6 lead and force a Brewer timeout. VC rallied back with three straight points, and regained the lead at 10-9 on a kill from junior George Diehl. The big stretch came four points later for the Brewers, as VC went on a 5-0 spurt, eventually leading by as many as seven at 22-15. New Paltz got to within three twice at 22-19 and 24-21, but Diehl earned a kill to clinch the third set for VC. 

Needing just one more set win to earn its first UVC title match appearance, Vassar leaned heavily on the UVC Player of the Year, as Knigge chalked up five kills and two assisted blocks while the team hit .321 to earn the win. The set was tied at 17-17, but the Brewers finished the set on a 9-2 run to earn the victory. 

With the win, the Brewers will now take on top-seed and No. 3 Stevens Institute of Technology Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Hunter Sportsplex in the UVC Finals. Stevens knocked off New York University 3-2 earlier in the day to advance to the title match. 

Knigge hit .243 for Vassar in addition to his kill total while adding six digs and four assisted blocks. Diehl nearly finished with a double-double, missing it by one dig as he registered 10 kills, nine digs and six total blocks. Ros added nine kills on just 15 swings, and freshman Ryan Duchemin added six terminations. 

Nick Smith paced the Hawks with 13 kills, while setter Matthew Grace finished with 40 assists and six digs. Ryan Cole also posted nine kills and 10 digs, and Nick O'Malley added 10 terminations for the Hawks. 

Sunday's UVC Finals will have live video and audio, compliments of Stevens Institute of Technology at the following link: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/stevens.