Poughkeepsie, NY - The #3 Vassar College Men's Volleyball team improved its program best start to 10-0 overall on the season as the Brewers completed a 29-27, 28-26, 25-23 sweep of #18 Misericordia followed by a 25-16, 25-18, 25-16 rout of #16 Lasell on Saturday afternoon in Kenyon Hall. This marks the first time in Vassar history that the Brewers have won the first 10 games of the season.

VC 3 MIS 0

First Set

• The Cougars took an early 5-2 lead behind two blocks from Jared Piontkowski, Anthony DePalma and Benjamin Clendening.
• Vassar got within one at 11-10 on back-to-back kills from sophomore Walter Birnbaum and senior Billy Fan.
• Two kills from Piontkowski and one from Thomas Young extended the Misericordia lead to 16-12 and another Young winner pushed the Cougars ahead 21-17.
• Three consecutive winners from first year Shawn Zheng trimmed the Cougars advantage to 24-23 followed by Birnbaum's kill evening the set at 24 all.
• DePalma's kill put the Cougars back on set point at 27-26 before Vassar used a kill apiece from Fan and Birnbaum to take the opening set.

Second Set

• Misericordia held the early 7-5 advantage as a winner from Joe Kozak and DePalma put the Cougars on top.
• Back-to-back kills from sophomore Armaan Desai and senior Gavin Akoto tied the set at 11 all.
• Piontkowski's ace gave the Cougars a 20-19 advantage before a block from Akoto and a kill from Birnbaum put the Brewers back in front by a point.
• DePalma's winner evened the set at 24 until VC connected on back-to-back winners from Zheng and Akoto to earn a 28-26 set win.

Third Set

• Once again, Misericordia earned a quick 5-1 edge following a kill from Clendening and an ace from DePalma.
• Vassar clawed back within two at 12-10 on a Desai ace before the Cougars used two kills from Piontkowski and a Young ace to go ahead 15-11.
• VC rattled off seven straight points behind two kills from Fan to take a 19-16 lead.
• Misericordia cut the lead down to 24-23 after a Young winner and a block from Kozak and Gannon DeFrain.
• Akoto buried his ninth kill of the match to clinch the sweep for the Brewers.

For The Brewers

• Zheng recorded a team-high 12 kills along with Fan registering 10 kills and 10 digs.
• Akoto tallied nine kills (.563), two aces and three blocks while Desai added six kills, an ace and a block.
• Birnbaum supplied five winners and 10 digs along with first year Henry Bonney securing five kills.
• Sophomore Parker Schoenl handed out 22 assists and lifted five digs along with senior Payne Lounsbery adding 13 assists and three digs.
• Sophomore Tucker Shearn lifted seven digs at libero.

For The Cougars

• Piontkowski registered a match-high 13 kills (.324), two blocks and seven digs while DePalma tallied 10 kills, two aces, three blocks and seven digs.
• Young chipped in seven kills and six digs along with Kozak recording four kills and two blocks.
• DeFrain finished with 29 assists, two blocks and 10 digs while Jackson Fehnel lifted a match-high 11 digs.

VC 3 LAS 0

First Set

• Following a kill from Theo Zaharewicz to tie the set at three, Vassar scored five straight points behind two aces from Lounsbery, a kill from Zheng and a block from senior Tobias Clark and Akoto.
• A block from Cody Bonilla and Jasper Schultz trimmed the advantage down to 11-9 until the Brewers rattled off six straight to extend the lead to 17-9.
• VC used a kill each from junior James Zuckerman and Fan along with an ace from Schoenl to grow the lead.
• Lasell would get within 22-16 after two kills from Teddy Teraszkiewicz and a winner from Schultz before Vassar scored the final three points behind a kill from Fan and a Schoenl ace.

Second Set

• Dexter Thomas recorded a kill to put the Lasers ahead 4-3 early before VC battled back to go ahead 10-8 after a Zuckerman kill.
• Lasell regained the lead at 11-10 after kills from Benjamin Walinjom and Zaharewicz.
• VC wrestled the advantage back at 17-14 on a kill each from Fan and Zheng along with an ace from Akoto.
• The Brewers used a four-point spurt to expand the lead to 22-16 after an ace from Fan and kills from Fan, Zheng and Zuckerman.
• Back-to-back winners from Birnbaum clinched the second set for Vassar.

Third Set

• Zaharewicz's kill put Lasell ahead 2-1 before seven straight points from the Brewers, led by blocks from Birnbaum, Akoto and Zheng, put VC ahead 8-2.
• The lead grew to 14-5 after two aces from Zheng along with two kills from Akoto.
• Lasell trimmed the advantage down to 16-11 after a Schultz kill until an ace from Lounsbery pushed the lead to 19-11.
• Kills from Teraskiewicz and Schultz got the Lasers within 24-16 before a Birnbaum winner sealed the sweep.

For The Brewers

• Zheng finished with nine kills, two aces and three digs while Fan garnered eight kills, an ace and eight digs.
• Birnbaum added eight winners, three blocks and six digs along with Akoto supplying six kills, four blocks and two digs.
• Zuckerman tallied four kills and two aces while Lounsbery recorded 24 assists, two kills, three aces and seven digs.

For The Lasers

• Schultz tallied a team-high seven kills, three blocks and three digs while Zaharewicz added four kills.
• Teraszkiewicz also finished with four kills along with three kills and four digs from Walinjom.
• Bonilla tallied 10 assists and five digs while Trystan Maloney supplied six assists and three digs.
• Ryan Mesnik lifted a team-high seven digs.

Up Next

• Vassar will play host next Saturday to Baruch and Messiah for a tri-match beginning at 12:00 p.m.