United Volleyball Conference Vassar Athletic Communications

No. 9 Vassar Has Season Come to Close in Four-Set Setback to No. 7 Cal Lutheran in NCAA Tournament

Vassar's season ends in the NCAA First Round at 22-7 overall

NEW YORK, NY - The No. 9 Vassar College Men's Volleyball team saw its season come to a close on Friday night in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament as the Brewers fell 25-19, 17-25, 15-25, 20-25 against No. 7 Cal Lutheran on the campus of New York University. Vassar's record ends at 22-7 overall while the Kingsmen advance to the NCAA Regional Final against host NO. 1 NYU tomorrow evening.

First Set
  • The Kingsmen opened the match with a 5-2 lead following back-to-back kills from Parker Brown and Michael Stahl along with an ace from Ben Weber.
  • VC brought the score back within one at 7-6 on kills from senior Gavin Akoto and sophomore Armaan Desai.
  • Cal Lutheran's lead grew to 13-9 on two kills from Jordan Cooper and a block from Brown and Gavin Galanski.
  • The Brewers drew even at 14 all on a kill and an ace from sophomore Walter Birnbaum and a winner from Akoto.
  • VC took its first lead at 17-16 on a winner from senior Billy Fan and expanded the lead to 20-17 on a service ace from senior Payne Lounsbery.
  • Cal Lu got within 20-18 on a service error before scoring five of the next six points behind two kills and an ace from Desai, an ace from Fan and a solo block from Akoto to win the opening set.
Second Set
  • Vassar raced out to a 5-1 lead on two Desai aces and a kill from Birnbaum.
  • A Birnbaum kill kept the Brewers lead at 7-4 before a four-point run from CLU, led by two kills from Weber, one winner from Stahl and an ace from Borys Horiuk put the Kingsmen on top 8-7.
  • A kill from Lounsbery evened the set at nine all until Cal Lutheran expanded its lead out to 18-11 on four kills from Stahl and a winner and an ace from Weber.
  • Kills from Akoto and first year Henry Bonney cut the Cal Lu lead down to 22-16.
  • Two more Stahl kills and a winner each from Weber and Cooper evened the match at one set all.
Third Set
  • Three kills from Birnbaum and a block from Fan and senior Tobias Clark put the Brewers ahead 5-4 early in the third set.
  • The Kingsmen answered with two kills from Brown and two winners from Weber to lead CLU ahead 13-7.
  • A kill from Desai and a solo block from Clark cut the lead down to 14-10 until Cal Lutheran answered with a Horiuk ace to expand the lead to 18-10.
  • CLU used a kill each from Brown and Weber to clinch the third set victory.
Fourth Set
  • Both teams traded points in the early going as CLU took a 7-6 lead on a block from Brown and Stahl.
  • VC went in front at 10-9 behind a solo block from Clark and a kill from Birnbaum.
  • Two more kills from Stahl and a winner from Horiuk expanded the Cal Lutheran advantage to 17-11.
  • The Brewers cut the lead down to 21-16 on a kill and a solo block from Fan along with a block from Desai, Clark and Birnbaum.
  • Cooper's ace put the Kingsmen within 24-17 before VC used a three-point run, led by a solo block, to reduce the lead to 24-20.
  • Cal Lutheran closed the match with a Horiuk winner to punch their ticket to tomorrow's regional final.
For The Brewers
  • Desai led the way with 13 kills (.429), three aces and two blocks along with Birnbaum recording 11 kills, a block and an ace.
  • Akoto added seven kills and two blocks while Fan registered six kills and six digs.
  • Lounsbery finished with 27 assists and 13 digs along with Clark chipped in four blocks (two solo) and six digs.
  • Sophomore Tucker Shearn lifted 10 digs at libero for the Brewers.
For The Kingsmen
  • Stahl garnered a match-high 20 kills, 18 digs and three aces while Weber recorded 14 kills, two aces and nine digs.
  • Cooper registered 10 kills and nine digs along with Horiuk adding five kills and two blocks.
  • Brown chipped in five kills and three blocks while Galanski posted a match-high 47 assists, three blocks and 12 digs.
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