Tough League Loss For Vassar Volleyball

Oct 27, 2021

Trailing late by 17-3, the Brewers closed the gap with a kill from Camille Donald but could not overcome the deficit. Carlisle Stockton

By Amie Canfield

POUGHKEEPSIE – Behind a match-best 12 kills from Katie Hobler, the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) women’s volleyball team posted a 3-0 (25-13, 25-12, 25-11) win against Vassar College in Liberty League action on Friday at Kenyon Gym. The victory moves the Tigers to 6-0 in league play and 22-2 on the season, while the Brewers are now 2-4 in the Liberty League with a 6-9 overall mark.

In addition to Hobler, who also had seven digs, two block assists and two service aces, the visiting Tigers saw Taylor Higgins lay down six kills. She also added a match-best three service aces and eight digs. Kiana Walker also had a match-best three aces while leading all players with 15 digs. Sydney Neff paced RIT with 26 assists.

For the Brewers, Sara Ehnstrom posted three kills with a squad-best nine digs, while Madison Wilson added 11 assists with two kills and four digs. Julia Hale recorded two kills with two digs and Hailey Hayes added two kills and six digs. Ava Casalino and Frannie Anthony-Brumfield – who both had two kills – each had a block assist as well.

First set action saw the Tigers open a 10-3 advantage, but the Brewers battled back, eventually pulling the margin to 12-10 behind an ace from Maya Levine and a kill from Hayes. A pair of errors by the Tigers later made it a 16-12 margin, but the visitors used a 9-1 run down the stretch to seal the opening set win.

In the second frame, the Brewers kept things tight, closing the gap to 5-4 on an Ehnstrom kill, and later, 8-5 behind an RIT error, but the Tigers widened the gap, to 17-11 following a Hobler kill. RIT went 5-0 at the end of the set to seal the win and a 2-0 advantage.

RIT came out strong in the third set, opening a 13-1 edge behind a number of errors, two aces from Walker and three kills from Hobler. Later trailing, 17-3, the Brewers closed the gap as kills from Camille Donald and Wilson, along with a Tigers error made it a 17-6 score. Vassar got a kill from Morgan Miller and were aided by three service errors on the RIT side down the stretch, but could not overcome the deficit.