Poughkeepsie, NY - The Vassar College Women's Volleyball team celebrated its two seniors, Rebecca Gutierrez and Ellie Kogan, on Senior Day on Saturday with two victories as the Brewers defeated the United States Merchant Marine Academy 25-22, 19-25, 25-22, 25-13 in the first match of the day before topping Hunter 25-14, 26-28, 25-9, 25-12 in the nightcap. The Brewers have won six straight matches and improve to 19-7 overall, marking the most wins in a season since 2017.

Vassar 3 USMMA 1

First Set

• Following a kill from Maddie Mayer that evened the set at six, Vassar rattled off three quick points on a kill apiece from sophomore Eleanor Gegen and junior Holland Kaplan along with an ace from first year Summer Stern.
• Back-to-back blocks from Sofia Dohr and Jenny Dyke tied the set at nine before the Brewers regained the lead at 15-10 on two Kaplan kills and an ace from junior Francesca Medrano.
• The lead ballooned to 19-12 behind two more kills and an ace from Kaplan along with a block from sophomore Erin Lovett and first year Brenna Olson.
• USMMA got the lead down to 24-22 on a kill from Sydney Douglas before a Mariners service error gave the Brewers the first set victory.

Second Set

• The Brewers pulled ahead early at 7-4 following two kills from Lovett, a Medrano ace and a block from Olson and Lovett.
• Following a Kaplan kill to keep Vassar ahead 11-10, USMMA rattled off five straight points on two kills from Erin Stillinger and two blocks from Dyke and Carly Soboloski.
• VC battled back to regain the lead at 18-17 following kills from Gegen, Olson and Lovett.
• Vassar's advantage rolled up to 22-18 following another kill from Lovett before USMMA responded to even the set at 22 on two kills from Dohr.
• Gutierrez's kill put the Brewers on set point but the Mariners scored the final three points of the set on a Soboloski kill and blocks from Dyke, Stillinger and Soboloski to even the match at one set apiece.

Third Set

• Vassar cruised out to an early 6-1 lead on two Medrano aces and two Kaplan kills.
• The lead expanded to 12-2 on two more kills from Kaplan, a kill from Lovett and a block from Gutierrez and Kaplan.
• Soboloski's kill cut the lead down to 14-7 until Vassar extended the advantage to 18-7 on an ace from first year Amy Melchior.
• Kings Point would get back within 22-17 on two Dohr kills and an ace from Sydney Douglas.
• The Brewers closed the third set with a 25-18 win on a Kaplan kill and a USMMA service error.

Fourth Set

• VC scored an early 8-4 lead on two winners each from Kaplan and Lovett along with a kill each from junior Maura McAusland and Medrano.
• Kaplan's kill put the Brewers ahead 12-5 before the Mariners reduced the lead to 12-9 on an ace from Emma Borlie.
• A big Vassar run, led by two Melchior aces and three McAusland kills, pushed the Brewers ahead 21-11.
• Douglas' service ace put the Mariners within single digits at 23-14 but Vassar earned the match victory on a block from Olson and Lovett.

For The Brewers

• Kaplan buried a match-high 21 kills (.327), one short of her career-high, along with an ace, two blocks and seven digs.
• Lovett garnered 14 kills (.407), three blocks and five digs along with McAusland adding five kills and three digs.
• Medrano closed an all-around match with 39 assists, four kills, four aces and 14 digs.
• Gutierrez chipped in four kills and two blocks while Gegen tallied four winners.
• Kogan lifted nine digs and had two aces along with Melchior finishing with three aces.

For The Mariners

• Stillinger finished with a team-high 10 kills while Dohr added eight kills and three blocks.
• Mayer recorded six kills and two blocks along with Dyke garnering five kills and seven blocks.
• Douglas chipped in four winners, five aces, two blocks and 12 digs while Soboloski tallied four kills, two aces, three blocks and eight digs.
• Borlie recorded 16 assists, three aces and six digs along with Alexa Tipps registering 12 kills and four digs.
• Stephanie Schatzman lifted a match-high 22 digs.

Vassar 3 Hunter 1

First Set

• VC raced out to a 10-3 advantage behind three kills each from McAusland and Lovett along with two kills from Kaplan.
• Hunter cut the lead down to 13-9 on back-to-back kills from Michelle Liu.
• Vassar responded to expand the lead to 19-10 on two Lovett kills, one winner each from Kaplan and McAusland and an ace from Medrano.
• The Hawks got within 21-13 before a Kaplan winner helped seal the first set victory.

Second Set

• The Brewers went ahead 6-3 early behind two kills each from McAusland and Kaplan along with a block from Olson and Lovett.
• Hunter battled back to take a lead of its own at 12-11 after two kills from Ana Duran and a winner from Lily Mattison.
• Following a kill from Gutierrez that put the Brewers back in front 15-14, Hunter scored four straight points to take a 18-15 lead.
• Vassar answered with six straight points on a Melchior ace, two kills from McAusland and a winner from Gutierrez.
• McAusland kept the Brewers ahead at 23-21 before Hunter scored three straight on a kill from Amina Moummad and a block from Duran and Moummad to go ahead 24-23.
• An ace from junior T Petro gave Vassar set point before three straight VC errors put the Hawks even at one set apiece on a 28-26 set win.

Third Set

• Vassar exploded with a 12-3 lead to open the set as McAusland and Kogan combined for five aces along with blocks from Olson, Kaplan and Lovett.
• Moummad buried a kill to get within 17-7 until Vassar used kills from McAusland and Lovett to push back ahead 21-8.
• Two kills from Kaplan and one from Lovett clinched a dominant third set victory for Vassar.

Fourth Set

• Three kills from McAusland and an ace from Medrano put the Brewers ahead 6-2 to begin the fourth set.
• The lead expanded to 13-5 on two kills from Kaplan, a winner each from Gutierrez and Lovett and an ace from Stern.
• An ace from Melchior and a kill from Olson pushed the Vassar lead to 18-6.
• Two blocks from Duran, Moummad and Mattison cut the advantage to 18-9.
• Vassar closed the match with three kills from McAusland, a block from Olson and Lovett and an ace from Medrano to take the four-set victory.

For The Brewers

• McAusland buried a match-high 25 kills (.353) along with three aces, two blocks and 10 digs while Kaplan added 14 kills, two blocks and six digs.
• Lovett recorded 12 kills, four blocks and five digs while Gutierrez tallied seven digs and two blocks.
• Medrano registered 47 assists, two kills, three aces and a match-high 18 digs.
• Olson chipped in a kill and five blocks while Kogan lifted 12 digs and landed two aces.

For The Hawks

• Liu garnered nine kills and three digs while Moummad added eight winners, three blocks and nine digs.
• Mattison recorded seven kills, two blocks and 12 digs along with Duran chipping in three kills and five blocks.
• Madeline Snyder registered 27 assists and 14 digs while Natalie Polanco lifted 14 digs.

Up Next

• Vassar will begin the 2025 Liberty League Championship on Tuesday evening with a First Round matchup with fourth-seeded Skidmore at 7:00 p.m. in Saratoga Springs.