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Vassar Upended By No. 7 Baruch in Five-Set Thriller
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POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (March 30, 2010) – Looking for momentum
heading into Friday night’s NECVA Championships, the Vassar
College men’s volleyball team took a two set lead over No. 7
nationally ranked Baruch College, but the Bearcats overcame that
deficit and won the next three sets to defeat the Brewers 3-2
(25-21, 25-20, 20-25, 22-25, 11-15) Wednesday evening at Keynon
Hall.
The energized Brewers, ranked No. 15 nationally, stormed out
to a 2-0 lead after honoring graduating senior hitter Evan
Fredericksen-- who was playing his final home contest
-- prior to the match. In a tightly-contested fifth set, Vassr
found itself deadlocked with Baruch three times before the
Bearcats won five of the last six points for a 15-11 victory.
As the No. 10 seed, Vassar now heads into Friday night’s
6:00 p.m. NECVA Championship match against No. 7 Medaille with a
17-12 record. Baruch, now 31-13 on the season, will face Ramapo at
the NEVCA Championships on Friday at 12:00 p.m.
The fifth set was tied at 8-8, 9-9 and 10-10. Powered by the play
of senior outside hitter Pablo Oliveira, who had eight kills in the
final set, the Bearcats had just enough rally and momentum in their
offense to secure the victory. The Brewers stayed in the mix,
getting four kills in the set from sophomore Matthew
Elgin.
In his final home match, Fredericksen led all players with 23
kills. Elgin earned 14 kills on an effective .571 hitting
percentage. Sophomore setter John
Konow spearheaded an offense that had 61 kills by
collecting 48 set assists with 13 digs. Sophomore libero Christian
La Du led all players with 16 digs.
Oliveria had 21 kills for the Bearcats. Senior Eryk Kowalski, who
had three kills in the final set, had 20 in the match. Sophomore
setter Jesus Echevarria capably set up his teammates with 59 set
assists.
The Brewers stormed out to a 2-0 lead, forcing Baruch to make a
considerable comeback. With a powerful attack game, Vassar
controlled both sets in similar fashion – maintaining a
three-to-four point lead in both – and earning points at key
junctures. A kill by Oliveria cut Vassar’s lead to 18-17 in
the first set, but the Brewers got two kills from Konow and three
from Fredericksen to build a 24-19 lead and were able to close out
the set with a kill from sophomore Patrick
Donohue.
The second set played out much the same. Kills from sophomore
Charlie Caldwell, Elgin and Fredericksen down the stretch kept
Baruch at bay as the Brewers successfully neutralized the powerful
attack game of Oliveria.
Baruch, which hit only .171 and .125 in the first two sets, won
the third set with a .500 effort and the third with a .355
percentage. Vassar, which trailed throughout both sets, made a late
push in each. A kill by Fredericksen had Vassar within 23-20 in the
third set, and a kill by Elgin also brought the Brewers within
23-20 in the fourth set. In each set, Baruch freshman middle block
Steven Coniglio responded with big kills to lead the Bearcats to
wins those two sets and force a fifth.
