POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - In a rematch of the only loss that the Vassar College Men's Volleyball team suffered back in January, the #2 Brewers earned its 19th straight victory of the season in a five-set thriller, 22-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 15-8, against #1 Stevens on Thursday night at Kenyon Hall. Vassar improves to 20-1 overall while the Ducks fall to 28-3 following an instant classic between the top two ranked teams in Division III men's volleyball.

The match opened with a 9-5 first set lead for the Ducks as Koby Sherman and Connor Feulner each tallied kills for Stevens early. The Stevens lead expanded to 19-12 following a winner from Tyler Hoke and an ace from Louden Moran before a kill from sophomore Billy Fan cut the lead down to 20-16. Vassar brought the advantage down to 21-20 after an ace from sophomore Gavin Akoto and then tied the set at 22 on a block from senior Gavin van Beveren and junior Jacob Kim. The Ducks scored the final three points of the set, led by a kill from Percy Bickford and an ace from Feulner to take the first set.

Vassar raced out to a 7-3 advantage in the second as Fan buried two winners along with kills from van Beveren, Akoto, junior Andrew Guaragno and senior Andrew Kim. Stevens battled back to tie the set at 14 all after a winner from Sherman before a kill and an ace from A. Kim along with a block from Guaragno and junior Colin Jones gave Vasssar a 18-15 lead. The Ducks got the lead down to one multiple times in the late stages of the set as Sherman's kill put the score at 24-23 before a Stevens attack error gave Vassar the second set victory.

A block from van Beveren and Guaragno put the Brewers ahead 4-2 before the Ducks countered to tie it at seven on a kill from Hoke. Stevens pushed out to a 12-8 advantage following two kills from Phillip Bone and blocks from Feulner, Bone and Sherman. Vassar battled back to tie it at 12 after winners from Fan and Jones before the teams traded points throughout the remainder of the third set. Following a 23-23 tie after a kill from A. Kim and a Stevens error, Sherman's winner along with a VC error took the final two points of the set to earn the Ducks third set win.

The Brewers started strong in the fourth set as two kills from A. Kim along with a winner each from senior Adam Gulick and Fan took an early 8-2 lead. Vassar's advantage grew to 17-10 as J. Kim and van Beveren registered back-to-back kills before Stevens trimmed the lead down to 19-17 after winners from Bone and Sherman along with an ace from Nathan Lancia. A solo block from J. Kim put the Brewers ahead 23-19 before a four point Stevens run, led by an ace from Feulner and a winner from Sherman tied the set a 23 apiece. Vassar took the final two points on a kill from A. Kim and a Stevens attack error to push the match to a deciding fifth set.

The first seven points were traded back and forth in the final set before Vassar scored four straight points, capped by a kill from van Beveren and a block from A. Kim and van Beveren to go ahead 8-3. After Sherman landed a kill to make it 8-4, the Brewers scored five of the next six with A. Kim and van Beveren landing winners to push its lead to 13-15. Stevens countered with three straight points on a kill from Sherman and an ace from Feulner to cut it to 13-8 before A. Kim and Gulick buried back-to-back kills to take the five-set victory.

A. Kim finished with a match-high 20 kills and added three aces, one block and four digs for Vassar. van Beveren tallied 15 kills and seven blocks while Fan recorded 14 kills, one block and seven digs. Jones and Gulick each added four kills and two blocks while J. Kim had a big day with 55 assists, three kills, five blocks and five digs. Senior Jorge Adames Reyes lifted a team-high 11 digs for the Brewers.

Sherman tallied 20 kills, two blocks and three digs for Stevens along with Feulner recording 10 kills, four aces, five blocks and five digs. Bone added nine kills and 12 digs along with Hoke burying eight kills and adding three blocks. Moran finished with 50 assists, two blocks and 10 digs for the Ducks. 

Vassar will play its regular season finale on Saturday as they host Messiah and Ramapo in a Senior Day tri-match. The first match is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. with the Senior Day ceremony beginning before the final 5:00 p.m. match.