POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – On Monday morning, the No. 4 Vassar men's volleyball team learned who its first opponent would be in the NCAA Division III Tournament. The NCAA announced the 12-team field, and the Brewers face the Hiram College Terriers on Wednesday, April 21 at 2:30 p.m. in the Salem Civic Center.

Vassar received an automatic bid following its first-ever United Volleyball Conference (UVC) championship title on Sunday. The Brewers downed top-seeded New Paltz in a comeback 3-1 victory. The appearance marks Vassar's third overall in the NCAA tournament, and it is the first time the Brewers received an automatic bid.  

The Brewers feature four all-conference players in Andrew Kim, Colin Jones, AJ Erickson, and Gavin van Beveren and UVC Coach of the Year Richard Gary. Kim stepped up his sophomore season to lead Vassar in kills (160), kills per set (3.48), and service aces (40). His 40 aces tie for first in the nation. van Beveren is second with 90 kills and third with 24 total blocks. Jones finished the regular season with 60 kills on a team-high .490 hitting percentage. Meanwhile, Erickson leads the Brewers with 305 assists (7.44/set) and added 11 blocks and 38 digs.

Other role-players include junior Matt Usui with a team-high 115 digs and senior Ryan Duchemin, who topped the Brewers with 33 total blocks.

The Terriers (10-1) make their first NCAA appearance in school history and are coming off their first Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference regular season and conference tournament championships. Hiram defeated Penn State Altoona 3-0 in the semifinals and then won 3-2 over Penn State Behrend in the finals.

Hiram is led by Kilvio Montero with 125 kills (3.21/set), while Tom Supan was close behind with 122 total kills (4.69/set). Both Supan and Montero lead the Terriers with 15 aces each. Cory Fischer grabbed 133 digs on the defensive side, and Dangelo is the top blocker with 27.

The winner of this match plays No. 5 Dominican (IL) in the second round.