SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – On Friday night, the Vassar College men's volleyball team took on NYU in its opening match of the International Volleyball Hall of Fame Morgan Classic at Springfield College's Blake Arena.  With the score tied at 14-14 in the fifth set, the Brewers (4-1) got kills from George Diehl (St. Louis, MO) and Jefferson Waters (Hummelstown, PA) to secure an 18-25, 25-19, 25-13, 17-25, 16-14 triumph over the Violets (1-4).
 
After Vassar built a 2-1 lead in the match, NYU rallied to take the fourth set.  The Violets used a 10-3 run to turn an 8-8 deadlock into an 18-11 advantage.  The Brewers closed the gap to four at 21-17 before NYU claimed the next four points to clinch the set and send the contest into a decisive frame.
 
The sides traded points to start a final set that featured 10 ties.  NYU held a 12-10 lead, but Vassar responded with three straight points to go up 13-12.  After a service error leveled the score at 13-13, a kill by Ryan Duchemin (Maitland, FL) gave the Brewers a match point chance.  The Violets' Tyler Flood slammed a kill to even it at 14-14, Diehl's kill brought Vassar to match point for the second time, and Waters ended the contest with his 18^th kill of the night.
 
Waters had a double-double for the Brewers, collecting 11 digs to go along with his 18 kills.  He also registered four blocks.  Jake Kaplan (Leesburg, VA) and Diehl tallied nine kills apiece, while Duchemin hit .833, slamming five kills without an error in six attempts.  Kevin Ros (Bridgewater, NJ) finished with 36 assists and nine digs, and Matt Usui (Rolling Hills Estates, CA) contributed eight digs.  The Brewers outdug the Violets 42-27 and hit a combined .231 (47 kills, 23 errors, 104 attempts).
 
NYU jumped out to an 11-5 lead in the first set before Vassar went on an 8-4 run to get back within two, 15-13.  The Violets scored six of the next seven points, though, to regain a 21-14 advantage.  NYU hit .407 (15-4-27) in the frame to earn a 25-18 win.
 
Vassar took an early 5-3 advantage in the second set, but the Violets responded with an 8-2 spurt to go up 11-7.  However, an NYU service error on the next point started a 10-3 Vassar rally that put the Brewers in front 17-14.  The Brewers held a 21-19 cushion when Waters slammed three kills during a set-ending 4-0 run, as Vassar took the frame by a 25-19 count to level the match.
 
In the third set, the Brewers seized control early.  After NYU captured the first point, Vassar rattled off the next four to build a 4-1 advantage.  The Brewers' cushion reached 10 points at 22-12, then three straight NYU errors gave Vassar a set point opportunity.  Ros finished off the set with a kill, as Vassar notched a 25-13 win to go up 2-1 in the match.  The Brewers hit a combined .471 (11-3-17) in the stanza.
 
Evan Lindley paced the Violets with 14 kills, eight digs and six blocks.  Alex Li, meanwhile, notched seven kills and four service aces, and Matin Bikdeli recorded 32 assists to go along with six digs.  As a team, NYU hit .144 (39-23-111) in the match.
 
With the victory, Vassar advanced to face No. 1 Springfield (6-1) on Saturday at 8 p.m. in the championship match of the International Volleyball Hall of Fame Morgan Classic.  It will be the first matchup between the teams since the Pride defeated the Brewers in last year's National Semifinals.