THOUSAND OAKS, CA - The Vassar men's volleyball team evened up their season record today, picking up two wins to close out their west coast trip. In the opening match, the Brewers defeated No. 8 Banana Slugs 3-1 (17-25, 29-27, 25-20, 25-14) and then downed Fontbonne 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 25-22, 25-19) to move to 2-2 overall.

After the Brewers dropped the first frame 25-17 to the Banana Slugs, they battled to a 29-27 victory in the second frame. Vassar went down 15-11 but fought back with a kill from Gavin van Beveren (Alpharetta, GA) and a Santa Cruz error. The Banana Slugs continued to hold a slight lead before using 5-1 run to go up 22-16. Another error and a kill by Joseph Harrington (San Diego, CA) cut the lead to four, and then Vassar used a 3-0 span to trail 23-21.

The Banana Slugs reached the setpoint but kills from Kim, and Adam Gulick (Williamsville, NY) tied the action at 24-24. Points were traded, and Vassar eventually went up 26-25 before Santa Cruz tallied the next two scores. Three straight Banana Slugs' attack errors closed the frame as Vassar picked up the set win.   

In the third set, the Brewers carried over some momentum, going up 6-1. Santa Cruz would go on a 4-0 run to tie the game but kills from Ryan Duchemin (Maitland, FL) and Andrew Kim (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) paired with a bad set from Santa Cruz put Vassar up 13-11. The Banana Slugs would tie once more, but an active 4-1 span that included a service ace and kill from Kim gave Vassar a three-point cushion. A kill by van Beveren gave the Brewers a 24-19 lead, and then Gulick tallied the set point.

Vassar rolled in the final frame, defeating Santa Cruz 25-14. The Brewers opened on a 7-3 run to force a Banana Slugs timeout. Santa Cruz would come within four points, but a five unanswered gave Vassar a comfortable 20-12 lead before closing out the frame with another Gulick set point.

Three Brewers had double-digit kills in Kim (13), van Beveren (13), and Duchemin (10), with Kim's and van Beveren's marks being career highs. Van Beveren also led the team with a .474 hitting percentage. Steven Koja (Temecula, CA) dished out a season-high 50 assists while adding three kills and four digs. Matt Usui (Rolling Hills Estates, CA) picked up a career-best 11 digs. As a team, Vassar held a 20-9 block advantage and a 58-36 kill advantage.

For Santa Cruz, Ian Pizzuti and Aaron Fox both had seven kills. Sam Wittert made 26 assists with eight digs.

Against Fontbonne, the Brewers won the opening set 25-19 before falling 22-25 in the second. After falling behind 12-10 in the third frame, a pair of kills from Ros and van Beveren tied it 12-12. The Brewers led by two at the setpoint, and Usui knocked in the final kill. Vassar opened 5-1 in the fourth. The Brewers went up five after kills from Gulick and Ros. The Griffins came back, lessening the lead to 16-13, but the Brewers extended the gap soon after. Kim and van Beveren tallied two more kills in the final three points, with the match ending on an attack error.  

Ros was active on the outside for the Brewers, as he finished with 18 kills on 28 attempts (57.1 percent), assisting on three blocks and making six digs. Kim chalked up ten kills, adding two aces, nine digs, and three block assists. Van Beveren hammered down eight terminations on 17 attempts and led the team with five block assists. Duchemin tallied seven kills for Vassar, and Koja handed out 45 assists to go with two aces.

Cameron Graves led the Griffins with ten kills, while Braden Woolsey added seven. 

Vassar returns for their home opener on Sat. Jan. 25, playing Ramapo at noon and Endicott at 4 p.m. in Kenyon Hall.