POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - The Vassar College women's volleyball team gutted out a 3-2 win over Lebanon Valley College on Saturday in their regular season finale. The Brewers, who conclude their season with an 8-18 mark, shouldered a tough 3-1 loss to Stevens Institute of Technology in the day's opener. The middle match saw the Ducks post a 3-0 win against the Dutchmen.

Stevens finished the day with an 18-11 overall mark, while Lebanon Valley was 16-15 at the end of the tri-match. Before the victory over the Dutchmen, the Brewers honored seniors Jennifer Kerbs (Sacramento, CA) and Colette Cambey (Hillsborough, NC) for their contributions to the program over their careers.

It was the seniors outstanding effort that drove the win as Cambey led all players with 16 kills and four blocks (1 solo, 3 assisted). Kerbs addded 14 kills with seven digs, a service ace and two block assists. Sophomore Claire Bialek (Brookline, MA) notched a game-best 33 digs, while classmate Madison Wilson (Plano, TX) chipped in with a match-high 51 assists and match-best four service aces. Sophomores Claire Basler-Chang (Amherst, MA) and Sara Ehnstrom (Kaneohe, HI) each added nine kills and 17 digs.

For Lebanon Valley, sophomore Reily Shelly (Mountville, PA) had a match-best 16 kills with nine digs. Junior Jayna Class (Lititz, PA) had 12 kills and a match-high four service aces, while freshmen Alice Thorsen (Lititz, PA) and Julia Rill (York, PA) had 21 and 23 digs, respectively. Sophomore Mikiah Sangrey (Millersville, PA) paced the blocking effort for the Dutchmen with three block assists.

Trailing by a 2-1 margin, Vassar jumped out to a 16-4 lead behind a 6-point run with two aces from Bialek and kills from Basler-Chang and Wilson. The Brewers owned a 23-13 advantage, but the Dutchmen came storming back with an 8-0 run to close the gap to 23-21. Class recorded three of her aces during that stretch, while LVC capitalized on multiple VC errors. Kills from Cambey and Kerbs helped close out the set and send it to a fifth set.

Vassar opened a quick 5-1 advantage in the final set, but Lebanon Valley once again battled back. Kills from Class and Shelly made it a 9-6 game, but Kerbs and Ehstrom pulled the lead back to four. A 3-0 run by the Dutchmen closed the deficit to 11-9, but three errors by the visitor and a final kill from Basler-Chang sealed the match victory.

In the opening match against the Ducks, Vassar battled back from a 1-0 deficit to tie things at 1-all with a second set win. The Brewers jumped out to a commanding 5-1 lead behind a pair of aces from Wilson, but Stevens took advantage of several errors to close the margin to 8-6. The two teams continued to trade points until a 5-0 run by the visitors made it a 20-19 score. VC held onto the lead and got kills from Ehnstrom, Kerbs and Basler-Chang to seal the second set win.

Despite that momentum, the Brewers could not hold off Stevens as it powered its way to 25-20 and 25-16 set wins in the third and fourth to earn the match win.

The Ducks, who were 3-0 winners in Saturday's middle match against Lebanon Valley, were paced by senior Casey King (Wallington, NJ), who led all players with 15 kills and added 10 digs, two service aces and two block assists. Senior Sara Hain (Roseville, MN) recorded 12 kills, while freshman Allie Morton (Louisville, KY) had 12 kills, a match-best six service aces, and seven digs. Senior Shelby Stewart (Powell, OH) also had a match-high four block assists.

For Vassar, Basler-Chang had 12 kills with 13 digs and a service ace. Ehnstrom added eight kills with an ace and 14 digs, while Bialek recorded a match-high 19 digs. Kerbs and Cambey each notched six and seven kills, respectively, as Cambey also added a block solo and a block assists.