CALDWELL, NJ- The No.6 United Volleyball Conference Tournament seed Vassar College men's volleyball team ended its 2019 campaign after falling to the No.3 seed St. John Fisher College 3-1 (19-25, 25-20, 23-25, 21-25) in the first round of play Friday evening.

This was the second time the Brewers faced the Cardinals. On March 30, Vassar fell in four sets.

The Brewers dropped the first set of the day. Trailing 9-5, a four point run sparked by a kill from Joe Hendrickson (Feeding Hills, MA) tied the score. A service error paired with a ball handing error for St. John Fisher and a kill from Jefferson Waters (Hummelstown, PA) gave Vassar the lead for the first time in the set. Though a Cardinals 8-3 point run closed out the set.

Vassar stepped it up in the second set, hitting .400 at the net. The Brewers opened the set with a savvy 7-1 run featuring kills from George Diehl (St. Louis, MO) and Ryan Duchemin (Maitland, FL) as well as service aces from Hendrickson and Waters. The Cardinals worked to try and edge an advantage, however the Brewers maintained their lead, not allowing St. John Fisher within 2-points. Another kill from Duchemin combined with an additional Waters aces, padded the Brewers lead 17-11. The Cardinals would climb their way up the scoreboard, yet a service error rotated Waters to the line for one more service ace before a feed from Duchemin to Diehl won the set.

A kill by Kevin Ros (Bridgewater, NJ), Waters and a St. John Fisher attacking error tied the third set at eight. Down by three, a Cardinals service error allowed the Brewers to take the lead with two blocks from Duchemin and Diehl, and a kill off of the hands of Daniel Halberg (Newark, DE) to Diehl. A timeout for St. Johns Fisher and the two teams toggled the advantage. Vassar up, 23-21, lost possession at the service line on an error, and the Cardinals finished the set with three consecutive kills.

Succeeding the third set, Vassar and St. John Fisher traded the lead. The Brewers took back the lead in the final set of the match with kills from Diehl, Ros and Waters forcing a Cardinals timeout. Post timeout, Vassar and St. John Fisher returned points with neither team leading by more than three. The score set at 21, St. John Fisher secured two points, triggering a Vassar timeout. Upon returning to the court, the Cardinals coupled two more points and won the match.

Waters collected a match high 17 kills, 17 digs, and three service aces while Duchemin notched a match high seven kills.

Seniors Diehl and Halberg ended their time as Brewers, though Diehl pick-up 10 kills to add to his career total of 803 and, Halberg delivered another 33 assists to his cumulative total of 661.

Vassar ended its season 14-15 overall and 5-4 in season. St. John Fisher advances to the second day of the United Volleyball Conference Tournament facing SUNY New Paltz at 5 p.m.