United Volleyball Conference Vassar Athletic Communications

No. 3 Vassar Improves to 10-0 With Sweeps Over No. 18 Misericordia and No. 16 Lasell

Brewers improve best start in program history to 10-0

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - The No. 3 Vassar College Men's Volleyball team improved its program best start to 10-0 overall on the season as the Brewers completed a 29-27, 28-26, 25-23 sweep of No. 18 Misericordia followed by a 25-16, 25-18, 25-16 rout of No. 16 Lasell on Saturday afternoon in Kenyon Hall. This marks the first time in Vassar history that the Brewers have won the first 10 games of the season.

VC 3 MIS 0

First Set
  • The Cougars took an early 5-2 lead behind two blocks from Jared Piontkowski, Anthony DePalma and Benjamin Clendening.
  • Vassar got within one at 11-10 on back-to-back kills from sophomore Walter Birnbaum and senior Billy Fan.
  • Two kills from Piontkowski and one from Thomas Young extended the Misericordia lead to 16-12 and another Young winner pushed the Cougars ahead 21-17.
  • Three consecutive winners from first year Shawn Zheng trimmed the Cougars advantage to 24-23 followed by Birnbaum's kill evening the set at 24 all.
  • DePalma's kill put the Cougars back on set point at 27-26 before Vassar used a kill apiece from Fan and Birnbaum to take the opening set.
Second Set
  • Misericordia held the early 7-5 advantage as a winner from Joe Kozak and DePalma put the Cougars on top.
  • Back-to-back kills from sophomore Armaan Desai and senior Gavin Akoto tied the set at 11 all.
  • Piontkowski's ace gave the Cougars a 20-19 advantage before a block from Akoto and a kill from Birnbaum put the Brewers back in front by a point.
  • DePalma's winner evened the set at 24 until VC connected on back-to-back winners from Zheng and Akoto to earn a 28-26 set win.
Third Set
  • Once again, Misericordia earned a quick 5-1 edge following a kill from Clendening and an ace from DePalma.
  • Vassar clawed back within two at 12-10 on a Desai ace before the Cougars used two kills from Piontkowski and a Young ace to go ahead 15-11.
  • VC rattled off seven straight points behind two kills from Fan to take a 19-16 lead.
  • Misericordia cut the lead down to 24-23 after a Young winner and a block from Kozak and Gannon DeFrain.
  • Akoto buried his ninth kill of the match to clinch the sweep for the Brewers.
For The Brewers
  • Zheng recorded a team-high 12 kills along with Fan registering 10 kills and 10 digs.
  • Akoto tallied nine kills (.563), two aces and three blocks while Desai added six kills, an ace and a block.
  • Birnbaum supplied five winners and 10 digs along with first year Henry Bonney securing five kills.
  • Sophomore Parker Schoenl handed out 22 assists and lifted five digs along with senior Payne Lounsbery adding 13 assists and three digs.
  • Sophomore Tucker Shearn lifted seven digs at libero.
For The Cougars
  • Piontkowski registered a match-high 13 kills (.324), two blocks and seven digs while DePalma tallied 10 kills, two aces, three blocks and seven digs.
  • Young chipped in seven kills and six digs along with Kozak recording four kills and two blocks.
  • DeFrain finished with 29 assists, two blocks and 10 digs while Jackson Fehnel lifted a match-high 11 digs.

VC 3 LAS 0

First Set
  • Following a kill from Theo Zaharewicz to tie the set at three, Vassar scored five straight points behind two aces from Lounsbery, a kill from Zheng and a block from senior Tobias Clark and Akoto.
  • A block from Cody Bonilla and Jasper Schultz trimmed the advantage down to 11-9 until the Brewers rattled off six straight to extend the lead to 17-9.
  • VC used a kill each from junior James Zuckerman and Fan along with an ace from Schoenl to grow the lead.
  • Lasell would get within 22-16 after two kills from Teddy Teraszkiewicz and a winner from Schultz before Vassar scored the final three points behind a kill from Fan and a Schoenl ace.
Second Set
  • Dexter Thomas recorded a kill to put the Lasers ahead 4-3 early before VC battled back to go ahead 10-8 after a Zuckerman kill.
  • Lasell regained the lead at 11-10 after kills from Benjamin Walinjom and Zaharewicz.
  • VC wrestled the advantage back at 17-14 on a kill each from Fan and Zheng along with an ace from Akoto.
  • The Brewers used a four-point spurt to expand the lead to 22-16 after an ace from Fan and kills from Fan, Zheng and Zuckerman.
  • Back-to-back winners from Birnbaum clinched the second set for Vassar.
Third Set
  • Zaharewicz's kill put Lasell ahead 2-1 before seven straight points from the Brewers, led by blocks from Birnbaum, Akoto and Zheng, put VC ahead 8-2.
  • The lead grew to 14-5 after two aces from Zheng along with two kills from Akoto.
  • Lasell trimmed the advantage down to 16-11 after a Schultz kill until an ace from Lounsbery pushed the lead to 19-11.
  • Kills from Teraskiewicz and Schultz got the Lasers within 24-16 before a Birnbaum winner sealed the sweep.
For The Brewers
  • Zheng finished with nine kills, two aces and three digs while Fan garnered eight kills, an ace and eight digs.
  • Birnbaum added eight winners, three blocks and six digs along with Akoto supplying six kills, four blocks and two digs.
  • Zuckerman tallied four kills and two aces while Lounsbery recorded 24 assists, two kills, three aces and seven digs.
For The Lasers
  • Schultz tallied a team-high seven kills, three blocks and three digs while Zaharewicz added four kills.
  • Teraszkiewicz also finished with four kills along with three kills and four digs from Walinjom.
  • Bonilla tallied 10 assists and five digs while Trystan Maloney supplied six assists and three digs.
  • Ryan Mesnik lifted a team-high seven digs.
Up Next
  • Vassar will play host next Saturday to Baruch and Messiah for a tri-match beginning at 12:00 p.m.