POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Vassar College women's volleyball team opened its annual home invitational with a pair of victories at the Athletic & Fitness Center on Friday night.  After earning a 21-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-15 win over Oswego State (4-3), the Brewers (4-2) notched a 25-23, 25-16, 25-17 triumph over the University of New England (1-5) in their second match of the evening.
 
Oswego State jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the first set of Vassar's opening tilt.  The Lakers extended the margin to five points at 13-8 before the Brewers responded with six of the next nine points to cut their deficit to three, 17-14.  After Oswego State reached set point at 24-18, Vassar rallied for three consecutive points, forcing the Lakers to call timeout.  Oswego State got a Sarah Braddon kill out of the timeout to close out the frame, 25-21.
 
It was Vassar that raced out to the early cushion in the second set, as the Brewers opened up a 7-1 lead before Oswego State rallied to tie it at 9-9.  After the teams traded the next eight points, Vassar went on a 10-1 run to go ahead 23-14.  The Lakers held off three set point opportunities before Jennifer Kerbs (Sacramento, CA) ripped a kill to give Vassar a 25-17 win that evened the match at one set apiece.
 
There were seven ties and five lead changes in a back-and-forth third set.  Oswego State went up 4-2, then Vassar rallied to take an 11-9 advantage.  After the Lakers regained the lead, 16-14, a Jane McLeod (New York, NY) kill sparked a 9-2 rally that brought the Brewers to set point.  A kill by Lauren Ninkovich (Portland, OR) closed out the stanza, 25-19, giving Vassar a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
In the fourth set, Vassar hit a solid .480 (13 kills, one error, 25 attempts) and led the entire way.  The Brewers scored 12 of the first 15 points and extended their advantage to 15-6 on a Ninkovich ace.  Oswego State cut its deficit to six at 16-10 before three straight Devan Gallagher (San Francisco, CA) kills made it 20-10.  A kill by Ninkovich closed out the set, 25-15, clinching a 3-1 triumph for Vassar.
 
Leading the way for the Brewers was Gallagher, who finished with 15 kills on .293 hitting.  She added 14 digs to complete a double-double while also served six of Vassar's 16 aces in the match.  Annie MacMillan (Colorado Springs, CO) contributed four service aces to go along with 40 assists and six digs, while McLeod notched 13 kills and seven digs.  Jorden Schreeder (Saratoga, CA) returned 23 digs, and Emily Overman (Mt. Laurel, NJ) posted three blocks for the Brewers.  As a team, Vassar hit .293 (48 kills, 17 errors, 139 attempts) in the victory.
 
Alison Sullivan and Braddon paced the Lakers with 10 kills apiece.  Julia Flohr had a double-double with 18 assists and 11 digs, while Alison Berger finished with 14 assists and three aces.  Jessica Long tallied 15 digs and Shauna O'Flaherty collected 14 digs, as Oswego State held a 62-59 edge in that category.  The Lakers hit .123 (38-23-122) as a team.
 
Against the University of New England, Vassar raced out to a 10-3 lead in the first set.  The Nor'easters battled back, however, going on a 12-6 run to pull within one at 16-15.  After the Brewers extended the margin back to four points at 21-17, the University of New England rallied for six of the next eight points to tie it at 23-23.  A Nor'easter error brought Vassar to set point, and a McLeod kill finished off the hard-fought 25-23 win.
 
After the Nor'easters scored the first two points of the second set, a long service run by Gallagher put Vassar in front, 4-2.  The University of New England trimmed its deficit to 10-9 before a Gallagher kill started a 13-3 run that increased the Brewers' cushion to 23-12.  Gallagher had three consecutive aces during an eight-point spurt in the middle of the rally.  The Brewers took the set by a 25-16 count to go up 2-0 in the match.
 
Vassar took control of the third set early on, racing out to a 9-3 advantage.  The Nor'easters cut their deficit to two at 12-10 before a Claire Basler-Chang (Amherst, MA) kill sparked a five-point spurt that pushed the margin back to 17-10.  After the University of New England again pulled within two at 18-16, Ninkovich slammed one home to start a 5-0 rally that brought the Brewers to the brink of victory.  She ended it with an ace, Vassar's 10^th of the match, as the Brewers concluded the sweep with a 25-17 third-set win.  Vassar hit .444 (15-3-27) in the decisive frame.
 
Gallagher hit an incredible .545 in the victory, slamming 12 kills without an error in 22 attempts.  She also had 12 digs and five aces.  Ninkovich tallied 11 kills, while Schreeder registered 10 digs.  MacMillan distributed 22 assists, and Madison Wilson (Plano, TX) added 13 assists.  The Brewers hit .267 (44-16-105) as a team and outdug the Nor'easters 48-40.
 
For the University of New England, Micaela McNamara led the way with six kills.  Sydney Christiansen, meanwhile, tallied five kills to go along with 11 assists and nine digs.  Katie Flynn and Katie Marsh each posted a team-high 10 digs for the Nor'easters, who hit .128 (24-13-86) as a team.
 
On Saturday, Vassar concludes the event with a pair of contests.  The Brewers take on Fredonia (3-2) at 11 a.m., then face Scranton (5-2) at 3 p.m.