POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Vassar College men's volleyball team put together a pair of stellar offensive performances in two victories on Saturday.  First, the Brewers (6-3, 1-1 United Volleyball Conference) snapped their two-match losing streak with a 25-12, 25-15, 25-11 triumph over Bard (1-4, 0-2 UVC).  Vassar then topped Johnson & Wales (7-2) by a 25-18, 21-25, 25-16, 25-22 count at Kenyon Hall.
 
Against Bard, the Brewers established control early on.  Vassar scored the first five points of the match and opened up a 9-1 lead on a Kevin Ros (Bridgewater, NJ) service ace.  The Raptors got within 14-8 before Noah Hoopenjans (Edmond, OK) was credited with a kill to start an 11-4 rally that closed out the set, 25-12.  Vassar hit a combined .500 in the opening frame, smashing 12 kills compared to just three errors in 18 attempts.
 
On the strength of four consecutive Sean Hsu (Pleasanton, CA) aces, Vassar built an early 5-1 cushion in the second set.  Bard pulled within 7-5, but the Brewers responded with a 12-4 spurt to increase their advantage to 19-9.  Vassar captured the set by a score of 25-15 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Vassar again took a comfortable early lead in the third set, jumping out to a 7-1 advantage.  After the Raptors trimmed their deficit to 10-7, Hsu slammed a kill to spark a 9-1 run that made it 19-8.  With the Brewers leading 21-11, Andrew Halberg (Newark, DE) smashed three kills and Hoopenjans added another, as Vassar posted a 25-11 set win to clinch the match.  In the third set, the Brewers posted a .444 (10-2-18) hitting percentage.
 
Hsu tallied a match-high nine kills to go along with five aces.  Hoopenjans finished with 25 assists, five digs and four aces, while Ben Brody (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) recorded 10 digs.  The Brewers hit .302 (29-10-63) as a team in the victory.
 
Tristan Kozul had eight of Bard's nine kills in the match, and he also led the Raptors with seven digs.  Nic Smith, meanwhile, posted six assists and five digs.  As a team, Bard was held to -.232 (9-22-56) hitting.
 
In Vassar's second match of the day, Johnson & Wales used a 4-1 run to take a 6-4 first-set lead.  The Brewers responded with a 9-2 run, though, to pull in front 13-8 and force a Johnson & Wales timeout.  Back-to-back Ryan Duchemin (Maitland, FL) aces extended the margin to 19-12 before the Wildcats rallied back within four at 21-17.  Jake Kaplan (Leesburg, VA) had nine kills in the set, including three in the final five points, as Vassar took the opening frame by a 25-18 count.  As a team, the Brewers hit .462 (15-3-26) in the opening set.
 
There were six ties in the second set.  Johnson & Wales jumped in front 3-1 before Vassar went on a 7-2 run to go up 8-5.  After the Brewers extended the margin to 13-8, the Wildcats used a 9-4 spurt to tie it at 17-17.  With the score knotted at 18-18, Cameron Ponce smashed consecutive kills for Johnson & Wales.  That started a set-ending 7-3 run for the Wildcats, as Johnson & Wales leveled the match with a 25-21 win.
 
A pair of Jefferson Waters (Hummelstown, PA) aces highlighted an 8-2 Vassar run that opened the third set.  Johnson & Wales battled back within 12-8, but the Brewers used an 11-3 spurt to increase their cushion to 12 points, 23-11.  Vassar reached set point at 24-13 and needed four opportunities before a Waters kill finished off the stanza, 25-16.  The Brewers hit over .400 in a set for the second time in the match, going for 15 kills on .444 hitting (three errors, 27 attempts).
 
Johnson & Wales scored the first three points of the fourth set before a Waters kill started a 10-4 rally that gave the Brewers a 10-7 lead.  After Vassar extended its cushion to 14-9, the Wildcats stored all the way back, pulling within one at 22-21.  Joe Hendrickson (Feeding Hills, MA) followed with a kill that made it 23-21, then a Waters kill brought the Brewers to match point.  He then served an ace to finish off the set, 25-22, and the match, 3-1.
 
Kaplan and Waters paced the Brewers offensively.  Kaplan registered 19 kills on .438 hitting while also notching six digs.  Waters, meanwhile, had 13 kills, seven digs and four aces.  George Diehl (St. Louis, MO) finished with nine kills and eight digs, and Duchemin notched six kills (on .500 hitting), four aces and three blocks.  Ros handed out 41 assists to go along with eight digs, and Matt Usui (Rolling Hills Estates, CA) contributed 15 digs.  Vassar hit .328 (55-16-119) as a team and outdug Johnson & Wales 46-37.
 
For the Wildcats, Sanjae Holloway had a double-double with 14 kills and 10 digs.  Ben Sandt just missed a double-double of his own, finishing with 38 assists and nine digs, while Ponce tallied 12 kills on .357 hitting to go along with seven digs.   Donovan Kelly hit .417 with six kills while also stuffing four blocks.  Johnson & Wales hit a combined .241 (45-17-116) in the contest.
 
After a week off, Vassar returns to action next Saturday with a 2:30 p.m. matchup at MIT (6-2, 0-2 UVC).  Both the Brewers and Engineers received votes in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 15 Poll.