By: MIT Athletics

THE BASICS:

- Score: MIT 3, No. 5 Vassar College 2 (25-18, 22-25, 25-20, 22-25, 15-11)

- Records: MIT (12-3, 2-0 UVC); No. 5 Vassar (10-5, 3-1 UVC)

- Location: Poughkeepsie, N.Y. (Kenyon Hall)

- The Lead: Powered by 19 kills from Troy Oliveira (San Diego, Calif.) and 14 kills from Nicholas Gustafson (San Diego, Calif.), the MIT men's volleyball team knocked off No. 5 Vassar College in five sets in a crucial United Volleyball Conference (UVC) matchup on Friday evening in New York.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

- MIT trailed 12-11 midway through the first, but went on a 4-0 run that forced Vassar to call a timeout. This spurt which featured a pair of aces by Dylan Ryan (Oviedo, Fla.) and kills Gustafson and Jacob Gasparich (New Lenox, Ill.) gave the Engineers a lead they would not relinquish. MIT led 16-14 and closed the set on a 9-4 run capped by a swing by Gustafson to win the first 25-18.

- The Engineers took a 13-12 lead in the second, but Vassar responded with three straight points thanks to an ace by Jefferson Waters and a pair of kills that gave the hosts a 15-13 edge. Both teams traded points the rest of the way and a swing by Joseph Harrington evened the match up at 1-1 as the Brewers won the second 25-22.

- Tied 12-12 in the third, three straight kills by MIT gave the Engineers a 15-12 edge and a lead they would hold on until the end of the set. Ryan, Gustafson and Oliveira powered that brief run. A Vassar swing that was blocked down by Gustafson and Gasparich as well as a kill by Oliveira secured the third for MIT, 25-20.

- Late in the fourth, MIT trailed by one points on three separate occasions, but Vassar held off the Engineers as a swing by Waters gave the Brewers the fourth 25-22 and sent the match to the fifth.

- MIT came out on fire in the fifth and scored the first five points of the final set thanks to three kills by Oliveira and one kill from both Ryan and Gustafson. Vassar climbed back into the set and cut its deficit to just two at 11-9, but three swings by Gustafson and one from Oliveira proved to be the difference as MIT won the fifth 15-11 and the match 3-2.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

- Oliveira registered a match-high 19 kills on 38 swings for a hitting percentage of .368 and added eight digs, one solo block and a service ace to his stat line tonight. Gustafson added 14 kills on 21 swings (.571) and a trio of assisted blocks. Jack Yurkanin (New Lenox, Ill.) posted nine kills, while Ryan tallied six kills to round out the offense for MIT. Waters led Vassar with 15 kills tonight.

- Nathan Wang (Saratoga, Calif.) dished out a match-high 43 assists and posted nine digs, while Thomas Nelson (San Ramon, Calif.) notched ten digs on the night.

- MIT led statistically in hitting percentage (.268-.243), service aces (6-1), digs (46-39) and solo blocks (2-1).

UP NEXT:

- MIT heads north to Albany for a tri-match at The Sage Colleges tomorrow at noon. The Engineers will play the host Gators at noon in a UVC match before taking on Rivier University in a non-conference matchup at 2:00 pm.