Vassar NCAA Tournament Postgame Press Conference 

KENOSHA, WI (April 27, 2018) – The 2018 season, filled with ups and downs for the Vassar College men's volleyball team came to an end on Friday evening at the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship semifinals, as Vassar fell to Springfield College 3-0 with scores of 27-25, 25-21 and 26-24 in play from Tarble Arena on the campus of Carthage College.

It was Vassar's third appearance in the national semifinals, and its first since the 2008 season when the Brewers defeated University of California, Santa Cruz 3-0 before falling to Springfield College in the Division III Molten National Championships 3-0. With the win, Springfield takes on the winner of Dominican University and Stevens Institute of Technology Saturday at 6 p.m.

The Brewers effort and compete level was high all match, pushing the top-ranked Pride to extra points in two of the three sets. Springfield, which came into the match undefeated against Division III opponents, had lost just four sets all season to Division III teams but VC gave the Pride everything they could handle.

The opening set was back-and-forth, but Vassar showed some battle on a pair of occasions, rallying form deficits of 7-4 and 19-16. With VC down three, the Brewers put together a 4-0 run thanks to a kill from Diehl, an ace from Zechariah Lee and kill from freshman Jefferson Waters.

Following a timeout from Springfield, the Brewers fended off two set points thanks to kills from Diehl and sophomore Kevin Ros, but the Pride were able to take the early match lead after a block by Sergio Figueroa Velez. In the period, Knigge led all hitters with seven kills, while Lee posted 12 assists including his 4000^th helper of this career. The milestone marked just the second time in program history a setter has gotten to 4000.

In the second set, Springfield led 8-4 early on in the game but the Brewers roared back with a 4-0 run, capped by a service ace from freshman Ryan Duchemin. The set remained close but a 5-1 run from the Pride pushed Springfield ahead for good in the game. VC got to within two at 19-17 after four straight terminations, including three from Diehl, but a 3-0 run from SC proved to be the difference.

The Brewers came out quick in the third set, forcing a Springfield timeout at 9-7 after 3-0 run after back-to-back blocks of Velez by Ros and Duchemin. The third set would remain nip and tuck the entire time, featuring 15 ties throughout the game while the largest lead was two at 21-19 Springfield. At that point, Vassar roared back and took a 23-22 lead after a kill by Diehl.

Vassar earned its first set point of the match at 24-23 after a service error by the Pride, but Velez posted the final of his eight kills on the match to make the score 24-24. Springfield moved to within one of the national championship match at 25-24 after an attacking error, and clinched the match on another close hitting error.

Knigge finished as the team leader for the Brewers in kills with 13, as the senior hit .321 for the match, posting three digs and one solo block. Diehl posted nine kills, six digs and an assisted block, while Ros added seven kills and a team-best nine digs, assisted on three rejections. Lee finished his amazing career with 4021 assists, as he chalked up 33 for the match Friday, adding four digs as well.

The Brewers hit .187 (38-21-91) for the match, and won the assists battle 35-34 and also took the digs column 27-25.

Sean Zuvich led the way for the Pride (30-2) with 11 kills and a .550 hitting percentage, while Joseth Irizarry hit .556 while adding three assisted blocks. Eli Irizarry Pares led the Pride with seven digs, and Mike Neary distributed 31 assists while adding four aces and three assisted blocks. Springfield hit .304 for the contest.

Vassar finished the season 23-8, making the program's third appearance in the national semifinals, and its first in the NCAA Tournament era. It was also VC's second straight NCAA Tournament appearance, making the tournament last year in 2017, winning its first NCAA Tournament era game as well against Kean last Saturday.
 
 
--VASSAR--