POUGHKEEPSIE, NY- Celebrating seniors George Diehl (St. Louis, MO) and Daniel Halberg (Newark, DE), the Vassar College men's volleyball team dropped it's first game to the Springfield College Pride (25-19, 25-22, 28-2) before topping the Daemen College Wildcats (25-19, 25-16, 21-25, 25-18) Saturday afternoon inside Kenyon Hall.
 
After dropping the first two sets, Vassar sided out in the third set; tying the match nine times, and not letting Springfield advance by more than three points. The Brewers down, 21-23, leveled the court with 3-1 run featuring a kill from Jefferson Waters (Hummelstown, PA). The Pride secured the next point. Springfield at the line for the match point, Vassar stayed alive and took the lead due to two Pride errors. Now the Brewers serving for set point, dropped two to the Pride. A Springfield serve ending in a Waters kill, gave Vassar another chance, though the Pride scored two consecutive points to fasten the win.
 
The Pride opened the match with a swift 5-point run which contributed to a 12-6 advantage. Kills by Waters  and George Diehl (St. Louis, MO) looked to close the gap for the Brewers, though Springfield remained strong offensively closing out the set with a 5-1 run.
 
Vassar opened the second set going on a 3-1 run however, Springfield quickly took the lead, connecting on the court with a 5-1 run. Trailing 14-11, a kill by Kevin Ros (Bridgewater, NJ) paired with a Waters service ace, gave the Brewers two additional points. A kill from Ros, followed by a Ros service ace and Springfield error closed Vassar's deficit to one. Albeit, the Brewers could not climb back and dropped the set.
 
Waters earned 14 kills, while Diehl and Ros notched six and five respectively in the match. Additionally, Ros served for four aces and two blocks.
 
Halberg handed out 23 assists.

For the second match of the day, the Brewers shifted their sights onto the Wildcats. Earlier this season, Vassar fell 0-3 against Daemen.
 
The Wildcats took the lead from the start of the first set however a service error gave Jake Kaplan (Leesburg, VA) an opportunity to serve for four straight points and take the lead. Later in the match a kill from Ros would spark a 5-1 run for the Brewers. Vassar would control the lead for the remainder of the set, and it's first set of the day hitting .471 on a kill from Jake Kaplan (Leesburg, VA).
 
Vassar retained the lead as they initiated the second set on a prompt 7-1 run. A timeout for Daemen gave the Wildcats a chance to increase their number on the scoreboard, however a kill from Ros joined by two kills from Ghali Khalil (Alexandria, Egypt), widened the gap. Down by 10, the Wildcats connected with three points, yet the Brewers scored on a Halberg kill and Joe Hendrickson (Feeding Hills, MA) service ace which won the set.
 
Vassar opened the third set slow allowing Daemen to take the lead. A 3-point run and the Brewers found themselves still behind by three. Yoni Auerbach (East Brunswick, NJ), Kaplan, Khalil and Ros all hit kills, but ultimately, the Brewers lost the set.
 
Daemen approached the net strong to commence the final set scoring six straight points to go ahead 12-9. The Brewers would regain the lead with a kill from Auerbach that sparked an 8-point run with Ros at the line that included four more Auerbach kills. The score set 21-8, Halberg served for five points to fortify the win for Vassar.
 
Auerbach scored a match high 13 kills while Ros got 12 and Kaplan nine.
 
Further Auerbach locked up defensively with nine kills, Halberg and Kaplan with a solid eight.
 
Halberg added 34 assists to his total for the day.
 
At the conclusion of the day, the Brewers moved to 14-14 on the 2019 campaign.
 
Vassar returns to the court on Friday, April 12 as the No. 6 seed in the United Conference Tournament. The match kicks off at 5 p.m. as the Brewers face the No. 3 seed, St. John Fisher inside the George R. Newman Recreation and Athletics Center.