POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - For the first time in team history, the No. 15 MIT men's volleyball team (16-13) will play in the semifinals of the UVC Tournament as the fourth-ranked Engineers knocked off fifth-seeded Elmira (13-9) in a thrilling five-set match on Friday afternoon at Vassar College. Scores of the match were 18-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-19, 15-10.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
- Set 1: Elmira held control of the opening set as a kill from Edwin Sosa gave them a 4-3 lead which they held for the remainder of the set. After an attack error got MIT to within three, the Soaring Eagles went on an 8-3 run to build a 21-13 lead. Kills from senior Troy Oliveira (San Diego, Calif.) and junior Phillip Johnson (Chandler, Ariz.) got the Engineers to 22-15, but Elmira held on to take set one 25-18.
 
- Set 2: Sophomore Grant Oh (Irvine, Calif.) gave MIT a 17-14 lead, but Elmira went on a 6-3 run to tie the set at 20. Out of an Engineer timeout, Oliveira recorded a kill to give MIT the one-point lead, but the Soaring Eagles scored the next two to regain the lead. Oliveira once again tied the set with a kill, and though Elmira pulled even at 23, a service error and a kill from senior Nick Gustafson (San Diego, Calif.) gave the Engineers the 25-23 win.
 
- Set 3:  In a set that featured 11 ties and seven lead changes, Elmira held an advantage at 17-14, but the Engineers battled back, and a kill from Oh tied the set at 17. Elmira then went on an 8-4 run to take the third set 25-21.
 
- Set 4: A kill from Johnson sparked a 4-0 MIT run to give the fourth seed a 13-6 advantage. Alberto Mauricio made it a four-point set with a kill, and an Engineer attack error made it a two-point set at 19-17. Kills from Gustafson and Oh put MIT up 23-18, and back-to-back Soaring Eagle attack errors gave the Engineers the set 25-19 and forced a decisive fifth set.
 
- Set 5: An ace from junior Max Turner (Chandler, Ariz.) put MIT up 11-6, and a Gustafson kill extended the Engineer lead to 12-7. The Soaring Eagles scored three straight points to get to within 13-10 but kills from Gustafson and first year Kevin Windisch (Placentia, Calif.) sealed the 15-10 win for MIT.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
-  Gustafson led MIT with 15 kills while Oh finished 11 and Johnson with 10.
 
- Turner had a team-high 47 assists in the match to go with 11 digs.
 
- Oliveria finished with nine kills and 11 digs while Windisch added 10 digs.
 
- MIT finished with 14.5 blocks in the match and a .238 hitting percentage while Elmira had eight blocks and hit .211 in the match.
 
- Mauricio led Elmira with 22 kills in the match.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- MIT will take on host and top-ranked Vassar tomorrow, Saturday, April 15th at 2:30 p.m.