POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - For the first time since March of 2002, the fifth-ranked Vassar College Men's Volleyball team took down #3 Springfield 25-21, 25-22, 26-28, 25-23 in front of a raucous crowd at Kenyon Hall on Thursday evening. Seniors Andrew Kim and Adam Gulick combined for 32 kills in the match as the Brewers improved to 9-1 overall while the Pride fell to 10-2.

In the opening set, Vassar took an early 6-3 advantage following a kill and a service ace from senior Gavin van Beveren before Springfield drew even at nine apiece on a block from Jarrett Anderson and Chris Rouleau. The teams traded the next few points before the Pride rattled off a quick three point run on a kill from Anderson and a winner from Noah Weislo. After a kill from A. Kim tied the set at 18 all, Springfield moved ahead 21-19 on another kill from Weislo. From that point, A. Kim took over as he buried four straight kills and combined on a block with freshman Tristan Christofferson to take the first set victory 25-21.

Springfield responded with a 7-4 lead in the second set as Dylan Mulvaney buried an ace along with kills from Weislo and Rouleau. Vassar cut the lead down multiple times in the set and a winner from A. Kim tied it at 15. Vassar's lead grew to 20-18 following kills from A. Kim and Gulick before Springfield answered and brought the set back to a tie at 21 all. A kill from Christofferson put the Brewers up two at 23-21 and Vassar took advantage of two Springfield errors to take a two set lead with a 25-22 mark.

The Pride ahead 4-1 early in the third as a solo block from Rouleau put them up and a kill from Anderson kept Springfield by two at 6-4. A winner from Gulick brought Vassar ahead at 14-13 before a Springfield answer by Rouleau took the lead back from the Pride at 18-17. Following another kill from A. Kim that tied the set up at 18, Springfield rattled off three straight capped by a block from Rouleau and Mulvaney. The Brewers responded and brought it back to a tie score after a kill from Gulick and a block from van Beveren and sophomore Billy Fan before the two teams traded points all the way to 26 all. A winner from Anderson followed by a block from Rouleau and Mulvaney moved the match to a fourth set after a 28-26 Springfield victory.

In the fourth set, Springfield scored four straight points after being down 9-8 on kills from Rouleau, Anderson and Evan Costley to go ahead 12-9. Vassar once again responded and tied the set at 12 after two kills from Gulick before a three straight from the Pride, capped by a Mulvaney ace, put Springfield ahead 17-14. Springfield's lead expanded to a set-high four points after a block from Joel DeCamp and Anderson but the Brewers answered with four straight with a kill from A. Kim, service ace from junior Jacob Kim and a solo block from Christofferson. An ace from junior Tobias Clark put Vassar ahead 23-21 as the Brewers went on to take the victory over Springfield for the first time since 2002.

A. Kim tallied a match-high 19 kills, two blocks and four digs while Gulick buried 13 winners and chipped in three digs and a block. van Beveren knocked down seven kills along with two blocks while Fan and Christofferson each had five kills. Christofferson tallied a team-high five blocks while Fan recorded two blocks and five digs. J. Kim handed out 36 assists and lifted a team-high 15 digs for Vassar.

Anderson had a team-high 18 kills while adding five blocks and four digs along with Weislo tallying 11 kills, two blocks and four digs. Rouleau finished a strong day with six kills and nine blocks for Springfield. Mulvaney handed out 37 assists while also chipping in three aces, three blocks and four digs.

Vassar will return to Kenyon Hall on Saturday for a tri-match against conference foe MIT and Stevenson. First match against the Engineers is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. followed by the matchup with the Mustangs at 4:00 p.m.