THOUSAND OAKS, CA - The #6 Vassar College Men's Volleyball team split a pair of matches at the CLU Invitational on Saturday as the Brewers swept #14-T UC Santa Cruz 25-18, 25-19, 26-24 in the opening match before falling 23-25, 22-25, 25-23, 22-25 against #12 Cal Lutheran in the nightcap. Vassar finishes the trip 2-1 overall while the Banana Slugs went 1-2 overall and the host Kingsmen finished 3-0 on the weekend.

VAS 3 UCSC 0

FIRST SET

• Vassar raced out to a 5-1 lead following a two kills from junior Gavin Akoto and a winner from senior AJ Erickson.
• The Brewers lead ballooned to 11-4 on a triple block from seniors Andrew Guaragno and Vaughn Ramsey along with sophomore Tristan Christofferson before the Banana Slugs battled back to 15-11 on a block from Dylan Foreman and Kyle Ownbey.
• Vassar built its lead back to 22-14 following back-to-back winners from Ramsey and Guaragno.
• Ethan Makishma's kill trimmed the lead down to 24-18 for UC Santa Cruz but a Banana Slugs service error gave Vassar a first set 25-18 victory.

SECOND SET

• The Brewers took an early 6-3 advantage following an ace and a kill from senior Jacob Kim along with a block and winner from Ramsey.
• Foreman's winner cut the lead to 8-6 before an ace from Guaragno and a block from Kim and Akoto expanded the lead to 12-6.
• The Banana Slugs reduced the lead to 14-12 after kills from Riley Norman and Ownbey before the Brewers scored four straight points, led by kills from Christofferson, Ramsey and Guargno, to force an UC Santa Cruz timeout.
• A kill from Norman cut the lead down to 23-17 before winners from junior Billy Fan and Ramsey clinched the 25-19 victory.

THIRD SET

• Both teams traded early points as Kim's kill put the Brewers ahead 5-3 before Leo Tuncer's winner and a VC error put UCSC ahead 7-6.
• Following a Norman kill that tied it at nine, Vassar took advantage of UCSC errors to earn a 13-11 lead.
• Guaragno's winner kept Vassar's two point lead before a solo block from Andrew Pak tied the set at 16.
• Following the Banana Slugs taking a 19-18 lead after a kill from Makishima, the Brewers reeled off three straight points, led by solo blocks from Fan and Christofferson, to earn a 21-19 advantage.
• UC Santa Cruz took a 23-22 lead on a kill from Ownbey and a VC attack error forcing a VC timeout.
• A Vassar service error put UCSC on set point before three straight points for Vassar, led by kills from Guaragno and Ramsey clinched the sweep.

FOR THE BREWERS

• Guaragno buried a team-high eight kills and four digs while Christofferson tallied seven kills and four blocks.
• Kim recorded seven kills, 17 assists, five blocks and three digs along with six kills and three blocks from Akoto.
• Ramsey finished with five kills while Erickson finished with 15 assists and first year Tucker Shearn lifted a match-high 13 digs.

FOR THE BANANA SLUGS

• Norman finished with eight kills and seven digs while Tuncer tallied eight winners and two blocks.
• Ownbey scored six kills and three blocks along with six kills and two blocks from Foreman.
• Makishima added five kills while Taylor finished with 22 assists and five digs.

CLU 3 VAS 1

FIRST SET

• Vassar took a 4-1 lead to open the match as Akoto and Kim each buried two kills each before two kills from Michael Stahl cut the lead to 5-3.
• A service ace from junior Tobias Clark put the Brewers ahead 8-4 before Cal Lutheran battled back to bring it within two on an ace from Borys Horiuk.
• After a kill from Kim pushed the lead back to two at 14-12, the Kingsmen scored three straight points on a kill from Jordan Cooper and a block from Horiuk to take its first lead.
• CLU increased its lead to 20-16 following an ace and a kill from Cooper along with a couple VC errors, leading to a Vassar timeout.
• Vassar battled back to 23-21 after one kill each from Kim and Akoto along with two CLU errors, forcing a Kingsmen timeout.
• Cooper and Horiuk each buried a kill to take the first set 25-23 for the Kingsmen.

SECOND SET

• The second set alternated points all throughout as a kill from Kim tied the set at three early.
• The Brewers took a 9-7 lead following two errors from CLU before the Kingsmen tied it at 10 on a kill from Stahl.
• Neither team was separated by a point until the Kingsmen took a 24-22 lead following kills from Ben Weber and Horiuk.
• A double block from Noah Rigo and Weber earned the second set victory for CLU after scoring the final four points of the set.

THIRD SET

• CLU scored an early 5-1 advantage to begin the set on kills from Rigo, Weber and Stahl.
• Vassar got within 10-7 on a winner from Ramsey before the lead grew back to 13-9 for the Kingsmen.
• Two kills from first year Armaan Desai and a solo block from sophomore Eli Lee cut the lead down to 16-14.
• The Kingsmen extended its lead to 18-14 on a kill from Horiuk until VC battled back to get within one at 19-18 following a block from Fan and a kill from Kim.
• After Cal Lutheran brought the lead back to three, three straight blocks from Kim, Desai, Ramsey and Fan tied the set at 22.
• The Brewers completed the third set comeback on two kills from Fan and one from Desai to force a fourth set.

FOURTH SET

• Vassar took a 7-6 lead following kills from Lee and Ramsey before the Kingsmen took a 10-9 lead on a block from Rigo and Stahl.
• Back-to-back blocks from Cooper and Rigo extended the lead to three before a winner from Akoto slowed the run.
• The Brewers battled back to tie it at 16 on a block from Akoto and Lee until Cooper's kill pushed CLU ahead 21-19.
• Back-to-back kills from Cooper and Taylor Marks put the Kingsmen ahead 23-19 before a kill from Desai and a CLU error brought VC within two.
• CLU clinched the four set victory following two VC service errors.

FOR THE BREWERS

• Akoto tallied a team-high 14 kills and two blocks while Kim finished with 13 kills, 15 assists, two blocks and seven digs.
• Ramsey recorded seven winners while Desai had five kills and two blocks.
• Erickson handed out a team-high 25 assists while Shearn lifted a match-high 14 digs.

FOR THE KINGSMEN

• Cooper buried a match-high 20 kills along with six digs and two blocks along with Stahl recording 14 kills and four digs.
• Horiuk tallied seven kills, two aces and four digs along with Rigo adding five kills and three blocks.
• Marks finished with a match-high 47 assists and six digs while Logan Marks lifted a team-best 10 digs.

UP NEXT

• Vassar will play its first home matches of the season on Saturday afternoon as they take on SUNY Potsdam and Rivier.