AURORA, N.Y. – Vassar men's volleyball picked up their sixth-straight victory on Saturday afternoon, defeating No. 10 Wells 3-2 (25-21, 21-25, 25-20, 21-25, 15-13). The Brewers move to 16-5 overall, while the Express slip to 18-3.
Vassar fell behind 3-5 in the first, but two consecutive Kevin Ros (Bridgewater, NJ) kills tied the set. Wells went up by one right after, but the Brewers used a 7-0 run that was capped off by an Andrew Kim (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) to take a 12-6 lead. The Express chipped back to make it 14-11, but Vassar kept control for the rest of the set. A Ros kill and a Ryan Duchemin (Maitland, FL) service ace pushed the lead to 21-16. Then with the score at 24-20, Duchemin blocked a Joe Zimmerman attack for set point.
After Ros put Vassar up 5-3, the Express rattled off six unanswered points. Kim knocked in a kill, and an ace by Steven Koja (Temecula, CA) cut the Wells' lead to one, but the Express did not give up the edgeedge. Jake Kaplan (Leesburg, VA) connected for the termination, and then Gavin van Beveren (Alpharetta, GA) sent in an ace to make it 21-24, but Wells made the final kill.
The third set went back-and-forth, with Wells using a 4-0 span to go ahead by five. Vassar responded with a 5-0 run that included two blocks by Duchemin. The Brewers used two Express attack errors to take a 12-10 lead, and after trading points, Ros spurred three straight points following a kill. Ros then closed out the set win with one more kill.
After jumping out to a 4-1 advantage, Wells bounced back to go up 9-7. The Brewers took a two-point lead following a service ace by Joseph Harrington (San Diego, CA) and then block assists by Ros and van Beveren. Three set ties followed until the Express went up 18-16. Three straight Wells' points pushed the lead to 23-19 before the Express sealed the win to force a fifth set.
The fifth set was close, but Vassar maintained the lead the entire time. Van Beveren sent in a kill and then slipped in a service ace to put Vassar ahead 10-8, but the Express never trailed by more than two. Errors troubled Wells, though, with two giving the Brewers a 14-12 advantage. Van Bevern sent in the final kill to secure the win.
Ros led the team with 15 kills while hitting .368 percent and adding nine digs. Van Bevern had a robust hitting night with 13 kills at .600 percent. He also and two service aces. Duchemin and Kim both recorded eight kills, with Duchemin recording a team-high four blocks. Koja finished the day with a team-high 42 assists, while Matt Usui (Rolling Hills Estates, CA) topped the team with 15 digs.
For Wells, Robert Patzer led both sides with 18 kills and 18 digs, while Justin Williams tacked on 14. Josh Undari dished out 53 assists
Vassar now has a slight break until returning to face Messiah and Alvernia on Sat. Mar. 21 at 2 p.m. in Reading, PA.
