 "Photo: Kathleen Mehocic, Photography Editor")
This past weekend, the men’s volleyball team hosted their third annual Vassar Volleyball Invitational. For the third consecutive year, Vassar dominated the field and swept the tournament. In the championship match, the Brewers defeated Nazareth College 3-0 (34-32, 30-28, 30-16). Phil Tully ’10 led the way for Vassar, earning his second straight Vassar Invitational Most Valuable Player Award, and libero Christian La Du ’13 represented the Brewers on the All-Tournament team.
La Du was shocked by the award. He noted in an e-mailed statement, “All-Tournament hadn’t even crossed my mind. It wasn’t a goal, hope or anything. It was validating as a player to be recognized like that, especially considering the talent pool at the tournament.”
The Brewers entered the tournament coming off of a 3-0 (30-14, 30-14, 30-18) North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) Metro Division win over Sage College on Wednesday, Feb. 17. This contest was the lone break Vassar had between the Nazareth Tournament and Vassar’s own invitational.
The weekend started with a bang, as the first contest featured Vassar facing off with the Crimson Eagles of Philadelphia Biblical University’s potent offense, first in Division III in kills, led by PBU’s national leader, Justin Brubaker. Both squads featured ample firepower as the Brewers were paced by two-time All-American Tully, no. 7 in the nation in kills, and Evan Fredericksen ’11, no. 17 in the country in kills. Not to be outdone, Philadelphia Biblical featured two top-10 hitters in Brubaker and Leandro Dueck.
Expectations were high as the Crimson Eagles and Brewers dueled, and neither side disappointed. Philadelphia Biblical drew first blood behind seven Brubaker kills to take the first set 30-26. Following this defeat, Vassar dug both heels in and battled the no. 6 team tooth and nail. Despite a poor hitting performance from both sides in the second set, Vassar persevered 30-24.
In the next set, Vassar out-hit Division III’s top-hitting team, taking the third set, 30-28. With the Brewers trailing 28-27, La Du made several acrobatic digs, to aid Vassar’s comeback effort in the set.
Down 2-1, Brubaker did all he could to even the score for his squad. The outside hitter notched 10 kills in the final set, but six Tully kills and five more from Fredericksen propelled Vassar to the 30-28 victory, giving the Brewers a 3-1 (26-30, 30-24, 30-28, 30-28) upset of no. 6 Philadelphia Biblical.
After the tightly fought contest, the Brewers didn’t get much rest, as it was right back to the court for a meeting with Johnson and Wales University, which Vassar ultimately won 3-1 (30-24, 30-22, 30-32, 30-16).
After day one, Vassar and Nazareth each led the way at 2-0, while Philadelphia Biblical trailed just behind at 1-1.
In their first match of the second day, Vassar cruised by Elms College 3-0 (30-14, 30-9, 30-0), with Elms forfeiting the last set. Meanwhile, Nazareth snuck by Philadelphia Biblical in five sets, setting up a winner-take-all championship contest. The last time the two squads met, just eight days prior on Feb. 12, Nazareth emerged victorious 3-1. This time the match was very different than the last.
The first two sets were tight throughout, with Vassar earning wins in each. In both sets, Vassar came from behind late in the set: the first after trailing 28-24, the second when behind 23-20, going on runs to tie each. The first set was tied at 28 off an ace from Matt Elgin ‘13 and ultimately went to the Brewers when Tully knocked home a kill from the back. Elgin also played an important part in tying the second set, executing a beautiful block alongside John Konow ’13, who finished with 45 assists. The set was back and forth for the next 10 points before two consecutive Nazareth errors gave Vassar the set.
The third set also saw a close contest—that is until Andres Posada ’10 stepped behind the line to serve. Posada rattled off 10 consecutive serves to give the Brewers the 30-16 win and match sweep. Noted La Du about the tournament, “As a team, our competitiveness and poise were a huge step in the right direction. All three of our wins against [Philadelphia Biblical] and the first two sets against [Nazareth] were come-from-behind victories in which we didn’t fold under pressure, but stayed focused and were able to will ourselves on top.”
The Brewers will look to continue their winning ways on Saturday, continuing their defense of Kenyon Hall against rival Ramapo College in a match-up that will go a long way in determining the division champion.
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