STEVENSON, MD – The No. 4 Vassar men's volleyball team returned to action and dropped a tough 1-3 decision to No. 11 Stevenson on Thursday evening. The Brewers now move to 13-4 overall, while the Mustangs rise to 16-6. Stevenson took the first two sets 24-26 and 16-25 before Vassar won the third 25-17. The Mustangs then wrapped up with a 17-25 fourth set.

The Mustangs ran out to an 11-18 lead in the first set after using a 4-0 run capped off by an Aleks Melbardis block. Vassar's Adam Gulick (Buffalo, NY) broke the streak by sending in two consecutive kills, and then Payne Lounsbery added two straight kills to make it 15-18. Stevenson took the following two points, and both sides recorded service errors. A kill and an ace from Lounsbery cut the lead to 19-21. Teams traded points until Stevenson's Tanner Stauffer knocked in a kill to push its lead to 22-24. Gulick and Lounsbery swung in a pair of kills to tie at 24-24, but the Mustangs tallied the following two points for the set victory.

Vassar started with a 3-0 lead, including a double block by Gulick and Gavin van Beveren (Alpharetta, GA) and a Jacob Kim (Pleasanton, CA) ace. Stevenson answered with a 5-2 to tie, and the set remained close until Melbardis made it 12-18 after a Melbardis service ace. The Brewers finally broke the streak after Vaughn Ramsey (Denver, CO) tallied a kill to make it a five-point set. The Mustangs continued to hold a comfortable lead and went up 15-23 following a kill from Tim Flanagan. Andrew Kim (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) then blocked a Stauffer attack to make it 16-23, but the Mustangs closed out again with the following two points.

Stevenson controlled early into the third set, taking an 8-9 lead before the Brewers rattled off a 3-0 run to go up 11-9. After some back-and-forth kills, Gulick knocked in a point to make it 13-11. Vassar then went on a 9-3 to go up 22-14. Van Beveren sent in a kill to give the Brewers an eight-point advantage.  

The fourth was tied 6-6 after Melbardis hit a kill, which spurred a 5-0 Mustangs' run. Gulick and Andrew Kim hit a pair of kills to keep it a two-score game, but another Stevenson span made it 9-16. Jacob Kim snuck in a kill to cut the lead to 10-16 before the Mustangs' scored three unanswered to force a Vassar timeout. Two aces by van Beveren cut the Mustangs' lead to 15-21 and then kills by Andrew Kim and Colin Jones (San Diego, CA) made it 17-23. Once again, Stevenson scored the final two to secure the win.

Andrew Kim led the Brewers with 17 kills and added one ace and five digs, while van Beveren knocked in ten kills with two aces and seven total blocks. Gulick recorded seven kills, five blocks, and six digs, while Matt Usui (Rolling Hills Estates, CA) led the team with 11 digs.

Tim Flannagan topped Stevenson with 18 kills on a .739 hitting percentage with four blocks and three digs. Stauffer tallied 12 kills, while Melbardis had 11. Mason Scott recorded a match-high 16 digs.

Vassar looks to rebound when they play Marymount on Sat. Mar. 19 at 3:30 p.m. in Arlington, VA.