New York, NY - The #9 Vassar College Men's Volleyball team cruised to a three-set victory on Friday night in the UVC Quarterfinals as the third-seeded Brewers scored a 25-18, 27-25, 25-15 victory over the sixth-seeded #16 Hobart. Vassar advances to tomorrow afternoon's conference semifinal against second-seeded #15 Nazareth at 5:00 p.m.

First Set

• Hobart took the early 5-3 lead following two winners from Andrew Kim and one kill apiece from Alain Malcolm and Benjamin Lincoln.
• VC answered to take a 10-7 advantage after two kills from senior Tobias Clark and an ace from senior Gavin Akoto and classmate Payne Lounsbery.
• Three kills and an ace from sophomore Armaan Desai spurred Vassar ahead 15-9.
• Kim and Daniel Sappia each buried a kill to draw within 17-12 before the Brewers used a kill each from Akoto and Clark to clinch the first set.

Second Set

• Both teams traded points in the early going as a kill and a block from Malcolm put the Statesmenn ahead 8-6.
• The lead increased to 13-9 on two kills from Kim and a block from Kian Kischke until VC got within a point at 15-14 on an ace from senior Billy Fan.
• A three-point run from a kill from Kim and a block from Malcolm and Lincoln to push the lead to 18-14.
• Two blocks from Lounsbery and Desai evened the score at 18 and the score evened at 25 following a Hobart attack error.
• VC earned the second set win on an ace from Fan and a triple block from Clark, Akoto and first year Henry Bonney.

Third Set

• Vassar raced out to an 8-3 lead behind an ace each from Fan and Birnbaum along with kills from Birnbaum and Clark.
• A winner each from Birnbaum, Desai and Clark put the Brewers ahead 16-8.
• Back-to-back service aces from junior Tristan Christofferson expanded the lead to 19-9.
• VC collected the final two points on a Clark kill and a triple block from Fan, Desai and Birnbaum to punch its ticket to the semifinals.

For The Brewers

• Birnbaum led the way with 15 kills, five blocks and four digs while Clark recorded eight kills, four blocks and six digs.
• Desai recorded five kills and 10 blocks (one solo) along with Akoto registering six winners and two blocks.
• Fan tallied three kills, four aces, three blocks and three digs while Lounsbery handed out 32 assists and liffed six digs.

For The Statesmen

• Kim closed the match with 21 kills and nine digs while Sappia recorded three kills and five digs.
• Malcolm tallied three kills and two blocks along with Lincoln registered 14 assists and eight digs.
• Zack Farren added 10 assists while Gavin Meador lifted six digs.

Up Next

• Vassar will take on Nazareth tomorrow afternoon at 5:00 p.m. to try to advance to the championship match.