United Volleyball Conference Vassar Athletic Communications

No. 7 Vassar Grounds UVC foe Elmira in Three Set Sweep

Brewers remain unbeated in conference play, take on #15 Hobart tomorrow afternoon

ELMIRA, NY - The No. 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.