Poughkeepsie, NY - The #7 Vassar College Men's Volleyball team went down two sets to one on Saturday afternoon before coming back to take the final two sets to earn a five-set thrilling 25-19, 21-25, 23-25, 25-18, 15-13 UVC victory against #13 St. John Fisher at Kenyon Hall. The Brewers improve to 14-1 overall and remain unbeaten in UVC play at 3-0 while the Cardinals drop to 14-3 on the season and 2-1 in conference action.

First Set

• Following a 6-6 opening to the match, a kill from first year Henry Bonney and a block from seniors Billy Fan and Gavin Akoto put the Brewers ahead 9-6.
• A winner from Griffin Stells put the Cardinals within one before kills from senior Tobias Clark and sophomore Armaan Desai along with a block from Clark, Akoto and first year Shawn Zheng pushed the Brewers ahead 16-11.
• Evan Ingerick's ace trimmed the lead down to 19-16 until Fan expanded the lead back to five on back-to-back kills.
• Casey Jackson tallied a kill and an ace to get the Cardinals within three at 21-18 until VC scored four of the final five points behind two kills from Desai and one from senior Payne Lounsbery to clinch the first set.

Second Set

• SJF earned a 7-4 lead to begin the set after Ian Rauh buried two kills along with a winner each from Gavin Newman and Evan Hernandez.
• Vassar battled back to even the set at 11 on two kills from Fan and one from Clark.
• Back-to-back blocks from Zheng, Clark and Akoto put Vassar ahead 13-11 and a block from Bonney, Fan and Desai got VC ahead 17-15.
• The Cardinals scored four straight points to take a 19-17 lead after two kills from Gabe La Robardiere.
• Vassar got within one at 20-19 before St. John Fisher used two blocks from Rauh and Hernandez along with consecutive winners from Hernandez to even the match at one set apiece.

Third Set

• St. John Fisher scored the first four points of the set and gained a 8-4 lead on a block from Rauh and Coleton Welter and a kill from Rauh.
• VC cut the lead down to 10-8 on a Fan winner until SJF pushed the lead up to 16-10 on another block from Rauh and Welter.
• The Brewers once again battled back to within 21-18 following kills from sophomore Enzo Bertini, junior Cannon Tucker and first year Petar Miocinovic.
• Griffin Stella's kill put the Cardinals on set points before back-to-back kills from Bertini and Miocinovic put VC within one at 24-23.
• St. John Fisher took 2-1 advantage following a winner from Stella.

Fourth Set

• After Jackson's kill put SJF ahead 4-2 early, VC used two kills from Bertini, a block from Akoto and Bertini and an ace from Lounsbery to earn a 7-4 lead.
• The lead expanded to 13-7 after a block from Zheng and Desai along with a winner each from Akoto and Desai.
• The Cardinals cut the lead down to 20-17 on a kill from Aiden Calhoun and a solo block from Jackson.
• Stell's kill got SJF back within three points before four straight points from Vassar, led by two kills from Clark and one each from Zheng and Akoto, pushed the match to a deciding fifth set.

Fifth Set

• An ace from Newman and a kill from Stella put the Cardinals on top 3-1 before two aces from Desai and a kill each from Zheng and Clark put VC ahead 5-3.
• SJF drew even at five on a kill each from Rauh and Jackson until VC went back in front 8-6 on a winner each from Akoto and Bertini.
• Once again, the Cardinals evened the set as Hernandez and Rauh each buried a kill to make it 8-8.
• Following a 12-12 tie on a Jackson kill, Vassar went ahead 14-12 on a Zheng kill to set up match point.
• The Cardinals made it 14-13 on a Stella winner before Zheng buried the game-sealing kill to earn the five-set victory.

For The Brewers

• Fan tallied a team-high 11 kills, eight digs and two blocks along with Bertini recording nine kills (.667).
• Zheng added nine kills and five blocks while Akoto garnered eight kills, five blocks and four digs.
• Clark chipped in seven winners, six digs and four blocks along with Desai registering six kills, three aces and five blocks.
• Lounsbery finished with 23 assists and 12 digs while senior Nick Villamil recorded 23 assists and four digs.
• Sophomore Tucker Shearn lifted nine digs.

For The Cardinals

• Hernandez buried a match-high 16 kills, seven digs and two blocks along with Stella recording 12 kills (.632), four blocks and four digs.
• Rauh added 10 kills and five blocks while Jackson finished with eight kills, two aces and eight digs.
• Welter chipped in three kills and six blocks along with Newman registering 34 assists, three blocks and a match-high 14 digs.
• Ingerick tallied 12 assists along with Trace La Robardiere lifted 12 digs.

Up Next

• Vassar hits the road for the rest of March as the Brewers will take on conference foe Elmira on Friday evening.
• St. John Fisher heads to Florida for three matches with the first being against Webber International.