POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – The SUNYIT men's volleyball team dropped its third straight match with a 3-0 loss to Vassar College in United Volleyball Conference action Wednesday night.  The Wildcats are now 1-5 in the UVC and 7-9 overall, while Vassar won its third straight to improve to 3-2 in the UVC and 12-7 overall.

Despite the sweep, the Wildcats played hard in all three sets, keeping themselves in each match even with Vassar building early leads each time out.  Vassar opened a quick 9-2 lead in the first set, but the Wildcats got three straight kills with senior setter Jonathan Brochu (Latham, NY/Shaker) serving to climb back into the set at 11-7. Vassar would surge ahead 19-13 on a kill by Evan Fredericksen kill and used a kill from Lucas Rathjens to take a 24-16 lead. Vassar then took the set 25-17 on a SUNYIT attack error.

Although Vassar jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the second set, SUNYIT would rally and a kill from junior Ryan Meller (Eden, NY/Eden Central) got the Wildcats within two, 18-16. Vassar maintained a slim 23-20 lead from there but successfully closed out the set 25-21 with kills from Rathjens and sophomore Charles Caldwell.

The third and deciding set saw Vassar take a 16-10 lead which the Wildcats could not recover from. Leading 20-13, Vassar earned five of the final seven points to take the match with a 25-15 win.

Meller finished with a team-best 11 kills to go along with six digs, while freshmen Dylan Krowicki (Little Falls, NY/Little Falls) and Tyler Kuss (Chili, NY/Gates-Chili) had eight kills apiece.  Sophomore Jeff Coon (Cheektowaga, NY/Cheektowaga) registered five kills, four digs and three blocks, while Brochu finished with 29 assists.

Fredericksen totaled a match-high 18 kills for Vassar, while Rathjens finished with eight kills and three blocks and Caldwell finished with six kills.

The Wildcats will be back in action on Tuesday, March 1 when they travel to take on The Sage Colleges.  The match is scheduled to begin at 7:00 pm.

Contributing to this release: Vassar College Sports Information Office

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