POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – After a slight delay to the season, the No. 3 Vassar men's volleyball team returned the court in a doubleheader against SUNY Potsdam on Saturday afternoon. The Brewers showed their depth, sweeping the visiting Bears in 3-0 matches to move to 2-0 overall this season.
Vassar handled Potsdam 25-12, 25-14, and 25-14 in the first match with a .460 team hitting percentage. Vassar jumped out to a 5-2 lead that was capped off by two straight kills from sophomore Andrew Guaragno (Holmdel, NJ) in the first set. Two Vassar errors put Potsdam down one, but a kill by junior Adam Gulick (Buffalo, NY) and then a double block from Colin Jones (San Diego, CA) and Guaragno gave the Brewers a 7-4 lead.
The Vassar lead was never in doubt, and the Brewers used a 6-2 run to finish the set. The second and third sets were more of the same. In the second, Gulick and Andrew Kim (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) gave the Brewers a four-point advantage. Then junior Gavin van Beveren (Alpharetta, GA) sent in a service ace to keep the Brewers rolling.
The Bears chipped away to cut the lead to 16-10, but Jones and first-year Payne Lounsbery (Long Beach, CA) knocked in scores to go up by eight. Vassar sealed the set with authority when Kim and van Beveren blocked a Zaire Rogers attack.
Vassar capitalized on eight Potsdam errors in the third set and had their best hitting percentage at .562 percent. When leading 7-5, the Brewers then used a 6-0 run that included two Andrew Halberg (Newark, DE) service aces to build its lead. The Brewers never slowed down, and van Beveren closed the first match with the final kill.
Kim and Jones had eight kills, while Halberg's two aces were a team-high. Sophomore Jacob Kim (Pleasanton, CA) tacked on 25 assists, while senior Matt Usui (Rolling Hills Estates, CA) made four digs.
For the Bears, Jason Hendler sent in four kills, while Joe Zimmerman recorded an ace and four digs.
Vassar played most of its reserve and first-year players in the day's second match, winning 25-8, 27-25, and 25-14. The Brewers looked to roll in the first set, holding the Bears to three kills and a negative hitting percentage. Vassar opened with a Jacob Kim hitting a service ace, and then Potsdam errors made it 6-2. Two kills from sophomore Vaughn Ramsey (Denver, CO) pushed the Brewer advantage to five points.
Zimmerman knocked in a kill to lessen the Vassar lead, but the Brewers answered with an 11-0 span to go ahead 21-6. A block from Ramsey and first-year Gavin Akoto (Justice, IL) followed by an Akoto kill made it 24-7. Vassar won the first set on a Bears' service error.
Potsdam showed some fight in the second, taking its first lead of any set, and was up 17-15 midway through. Senior Jake Kaplan (Leesburg, VA) hit in a kill, and a Bears' error tied the set 17-17. Potsdam scored the next two and eventually took a 22-19 lead. Ramsey sent in a kill to spur a 4-0 run, but the Bears tied again at 23-23. Teams traded the following four points, and with the set at 25-25, Vassar scored the final two points. Vassar went up early in the third and never gave up the lead to secure the weekend sweep.
Ramsey led the match with 16 kills, while Joe Hendrickson (Feeding Hills, MA) tacked six. Ramsey and Akoto recorded three blocks, while AJ Erickson (San Diego, CA) dished out 23 assists. Junior Jorge Adames Reyes (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) had a game-high 10 digs.
Rogers topped the Bears squad with five kills, while Zimmerman had five digs.
The Brewers return to action on Sun. Jan. 30 to host Arcadia at 1 p.m. in Kenyon Hall.
