POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Vassar men's volleyball team closed out the regular season with two 3-0 sweeps in Saturday's tri-match in Kenyon Hall. The Brewers first won 25-22, 25-13, and 25-14 against SUNY Poly and then defeated Baruch 25-21, 25-19, and 25-22.
In the opening match, Andrew Kim (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) led the Brewers with 13 kills on .455, hitting with 11 digs, and Vaughn Ramsey (Denver, CO) added eight kills on .400 hitting. As a team, Vassar struck .419 percent.
The Wildcats took an 8-11 lead in the first set before Ramsey hit a kill and then knocked in a service ace to tie at 12-12. SUNY Poly took a 12-14 lead after Matthew Russo scored a kill. Vassar responded with a 5-0 run capped off with kills from Jacob Kim (Pleasanton, CA) and Ramsey. The Wildcats kept close, but a final service error cost them the set.
After SUNY Poly cut the Vassar lead to 3-2 in the second set, the Brewers rattled off a 10-0 run to hold a steady lead. Two consecutive kills by Andrew Kim and a Jacob Kim ace put the score at 21-8. The Wildcats could never recover, and another service error put the Brewers up 2-0.
Two kills from Payne Lounsbery (Long Beach, CA) gave Vassar an 8-3 advantage. The Brewers continued to build their advantage, and Gavin Akoto (Justice, IL) struck a kill to put the Brewers up by seven. At set-point, Jacob Kim snuck in an attack to complete the sweep.
Jacob Kim finished the day with three kills on a perfect hitting percentage and dished out 35 assists with five digs. Lounsbery hit .462 with eight kills on 12 attacks.
In the second match, seniors Jake Kaplan (Leesburg, VA), Andrew Halberg (Newark, DE), and Joe Hendrickson (Feeding Hills, MA) all started. Hendrickson earned a match-high 12 kills, while Halberg recorded seven kills. Kaplan had two aces with five kills.
The Bearcats kept the first set close by using a late 4-1 run to 23-20. Halberg sent in a kill before a Vassar service error made it a three-point contest. Kaplan then sent in the set-winning kill.
Vassar went on a 7-0 span with blocks from Gavin van Beveren (Alpharetta, GA) and Gulick to take an 18-7 lead. A Halberg kill put the Brewers up by nine, and Kaplan knocked in the last two Vassar points on kills to make it 2-0.
Baruch took a 15-16 lead in the third set before the Brewers went on a 5-0 span that included two van Beveren kills. Hendrickson made it 24-20 when he knocked in a kill. The Bearcats took the following two points, but Hendrickson capped off senior day with the match-winning kill.
Van Beveren tallied 11 kills and five total blocks, while Jordan Klembczyk finished with a career-high nine digs.
Vassar earned the third seed in the UVC Championship and is set to play sixth-seeded Elmira at 7:30 p.m. on Fri. Apr. 8 at New Paltz.
