Elmira, NY - The #7 Vassar College Men's Volleyball team remained unbeaten in conference play on Friday evening as the Brewers opened their month long road trip with a 25-14, 25-20, 25-18 sweep against Elmira. Vassar's record improves to 15-1 overall and 4-0 in UVC matchups while the Soaring Eagles fall to 14-4 on the season and 0-4 in conference play.

First Set

• Following a 4-4 tie to begin the match, Vassar used two kills from first year Enzo Bertini, a block from senior Gavin Akoto and Bertini and a kill from first year Shawn Zheng to go ahead 8-5.
• A 8-1 scoring run, led by two aces from Akoto and two kills from sophomore Armaan Desai, put the Brewers up 16-7.
• A kill and an ace from Jordan Peiser cut the VC lead down to 18-13 until Vassar scored three straight on two kills from senior Tobias Clark and an ace from senior Payne Lounsbery.
• Vassar tallied the final four points of the set as two kills and a block from Akoto along with a set sealing winner from Bertini gave the Brewers the first set win.

Second Set

• VC earned a 5-3 advantage on winners from Desai, Lounsbery and senior Billy Fan.
• Kills from sophomore Walter Birnbaum, Desai and Clark expanded the Brewers lead to 14-8.
• Back-to-back kills from Luke Jata and Dylan Vargas reduced the lead to 16-11 until Vassar used kills from Lounsbery and Akoto along with a Fan ace to push the lead to 20-12.
• Max Cohen's service ace put the Soaring Eagles within four at 20-16 before a kill from Zheng, ace from Lounsbery and a block from Desai and Birnbaum put Vassar on top 23-16.
• Elmira trimmed the lead to 24-20 on an ace from Paten Buckwalter before Birnbaum's winner earned the second set victory.

Third Set

• Both teams traded points early on as kills from Birnbaum and Fan put VC on top 7-5 before Elmira took a 9-8 lead on a kill from Ethan Davenport.
• VC responded with five straight points behind an ace from Fan, a kill from Birnbaum and a block from Zheng and junior James Zuckerman.
• The advantage expanded to 19-14 on two kills from Akoto and one from Birnbaum before Elmira made one more comeback to get it within 21-18 on a Peiser kill.
• Vassar scored the final four points to clinch the sweep on three attack errors from the Soaring Eagles.

For The Brewers

• Birnbaum tallied a team-high eight kills and two blocks while Akoto added six kills, two aces, four blocks and three digs.
• Desai chipped in five winners and two blocks along with Lounsbery finishing with four kills, 11 assists, two aces and five digs.
• Clark and Bertini each had four kills while Bertini also added three blocks.
• Fan recorded three kills, three aces and two digs while Zheng also added three kills and two blocks.
• Senior Nick Villamil handed out a team-high 15 assists along with sophomore Tucker Shearn and junior Casey McMenamin each lifted four digs.

For The Soaring Eagles

• Peiser led the way with six kills, two aces, two blocks and five digs along with Jata recording five kills and an ace.
• Buckwalter registered five winners and two blocks while Vargas and Davenport each chipped in four kills.
• Cohen handed out a match-high 18 assists and lifted a team-high six digs.

Up Next

• Vassar will continue its road trip with a UVC matchup with #15 Hobart tomorrow at 12:00 p.m.
• Elmira will return to action on March 15 with a tri-match at Rutgers-Newark.