ELMIRA, N.Y. – The No. 4 Vassar men's volleyball team defeated No. 7 St, John Fisher, 3-2 on Friday evening in Speidel Gymnasium, to advance to Sunday's United Volleyball Conference (UVC) finals. The Brewers look to face top-seeded New Paltz.
Vassar appeared it might dominate early, cruising to a 25-13 first set victory. The Cardinals were held to a negative hitting percentage with eight errors to six kills. The Brewers performed well, hitting .312. After the set was tied 9-9, the Brewers exploded on a 9-0 run to take an 18-9 lead. During that span, sophomore Andrew Kim fired off four service aces. St. John Fisher eventually broke the streak, but Gulick knocked in a kill before blocking with teammate Ryan Duchemin. Vassar then used three straight Cardinal errors to close out the set.
St. John Fisher bounced back in the second, winning 25-19. This time it was Vassar struggling to hit at .133. After six ties, the Cardinals' Griffin Stella hit a kill and then blocked a Gulick attempt with Matt Cieplicki. A 5-0 run pushed the St. John Fisher advantage to 15-9. Colin Jones pulled the Brewers within one following a kill, but a 4-1 finish for the Cardinals tied the sets 1-1.
Vassar took the third 25-22 and held the lead the entire set. After a Vassar error, the Brewers only led by one at 20-19. Both sides went back-and-forth the final five points, but it was Kim knocked in the last kill. St. John Fisher won the fourth 25-21, using a 4-2 run to take a three-point lead after the set was tied 13-13. Kills from Kim and Gavin van Beveren cut it to 20-23, but two Vassar service errors sent the match to a fifth.
Kim, Colin Jones, and Jacob Kim knocked in a kill each to give Vassar an early 3-1 lead. The set tied seven more times, but a 3-0 Vassar run comprised of a Kim kill and ace and a group block from Jake Kaplan and Jones made it 12-9. The Cardinals put the score at 14-12 after a Cieplicki ace, but van Beveren ended the comeback with a powerful match-winning kill.
Vassar was led by Kim, who had 14 kills, six service aces, and 13 digs. Jones recorded 12 kills and four blocks, while Gulick finished with nine kills and six blocks. AJ Erickson dished out 28 assists, and Jacob Kim had 17.
For the Cardinals, Jake Baker recorded a match-high 15 kills. Paul Hackford had two aces, and Dylan Urbanski led both teams with 37 assists.
Vassar next travels to New Paltz to play the Hawks on Sunday at 1pm. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, spectators are not allowed, but video will be available.
