POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - In front of a packed Kenyon Hall, the No. 2 Vassar men's volleyball team came back from being down 1-2 with No. 1 Springfield to force a fifth set on Wednesday night. The Brewers were able to tie it 15-15, but the Pride scored two straight to seal the victory. Springfield moves to 10-1 overall, while the Brewers' eight-match win streak is snapped, and they fall to 8-3.
Freshman Andrew Kim (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) knocked in a career-high 18 kills on 34 total attacks (.382 percent), while senior Kevin Ros (Bridgewater, NJ) added 16 kills with six digs. Gavin van Beveren (Alpharetta, GA) made 13 kills on 25 attacks (.400 percent), and junior Jefferson Waters (Hummelstown, PA) tallied ten kills.
The Brewers came out strong, using a 6-0 run to pull away after the opening set was tied 4-4. A kill from Waters pushed the lead to 11-6. Springfield responded, but Vassar answered with a Ryan Duchemin (Maitland, FL) service ace and kills from Kim and van Beveren to take a seven-point lead. The Brewers kept the pressure on, taking a 24-14 lead following a kill by Waters. A Pride service error gave the Brewers the set point.
Springfield was not going away that easily, though, taking the second set 25-19. The Pride jumped out to a 10-6 advantage and maintained a comfortable lead. After taking a six-point lead, Ros spurred another 6-0 run that included two kills by Kim and two block assists by Steven Koja (Temecula, CA) and Duchemin. That forced a Springfield timeout, and the Pride used a 5-1 span to retake the lead at 21-17. Vassar scored two more times, but Springfield closed out with four unanswered to tie the night 1-1.
The Pride finished healthy again in the third set, winning 25-22. Vassar evened things up 19-19, and a block assist by van Beveren and Ros put the Brewers up 20-19. Two more tied followed before Springfield finished the set on a 3-0 run.
Neither side was able to pull away early in the fourth until Springfield went up 13-9 to force a Vassar timeout. The Brewers answered with four straight points of their own. Then after a few back-and-forth scores, the Brewers took an 18-15 lead following a Kim kill. Vassar held a slight edge for the remainder of the set, and Ros knocked in the final kill.
There were eight ties in the fifth set, and extra points were needed to decide a winner. Waters put Vassar ahead 14-12, but the Pride tied it 14-14 soon after. Ros responded with a kill to retake the lead. It was the Pride finishing strongly again, scoring three straight to win 17-15.
Duchemin led the Brewers with seven block assists, while Koja had four along with a game-high 49 assists. Sophomore Matt Usui (Rolling Hills Estates, CA) had a team-high nine digs.
For Springfield, Jarrett Anderson had a game-high 26 kills, while Brennen Brandow added 15. Johjan Mussa Robles made ten digs, and Matt Liley had 46 assists.
Vassar is back in action on Sat. Feb. 15 to host Stevens and Elms. The Brewers play Stevens at 1 p.m. and Elms at 5 p.m.
