Vassar Sweeps Both Lancaster Bible and Messiah

By Steven Merritt

MECHANICSBURG, PA – The #7 Vassar College Men’s Volleyball team hit the road on Saturday afternoon as the Brewers coasted to sweeps over Lancaster Bible 28-26, 25-16, 25-21 and #15 Messiah 25-15, 25-20, 25-17 to extend its winning streak to four straight matches. Vassar’s record improves to 6-1 overall while the Chargers move to 3-3 overall and the Falcons fall to 1-2 on the season.

VC 3 LBC 0
First Set
Lancaster Bible took an early 5-2 lead following two kills each from Christian Herr and Dawson Forney.

Vassar drew even at six following back-to-back winners from junior Vaughn Ramsey and senior Andrew Guaragno.

DJ Omogrosso’s service aces put the Chargers up 11-8 before Vassar battled back to take a 13-12 lead following a Guaragno kill and a LBC error.

Both teams traded points throughout the midway point of the set as Herr’s kill tied the set at 20 for Lancaster Bible.

A kill from senior Jacob Kim and a block from first years Walter Birnbaum and Armaan Desai pushed Vassar ahead 22-20 before two straight points from the Chargers tied it at 22.

Following a winner from Omogrosso to tie it at 26, Kim and Birnbaum collected back-to-back kills to earn the first set victory.

Second Set
Vassar earned a 7-3 lead to open the set as kills from Kim, Desai and Birnbaum led the way to the early advantage.

An ace from Ramsey expanded the lead to 10-5 until the Chargers battled back to cut the lead to 13-11 on a kill from Jordan Yoder.

The Brewers scored the next four points, led by a kill and two blocks from Desai along with an ace from Birnbaum.

Back-to-back kills from Yoder and Herr cut the lead to five before the Brewers tallied four straight on a winner each from Guaragno and Kim along with a solo block from junior Gavin Akoto.

Vassar clinched the second set on kills from Kim and junior Billy Fan.

Third Set
A block from Kim and sophomore Tristan Christofferson put the Brewers ahead 4-2 followed by the lead expanded to three on a winner from Christofferson.

The lead grew to 13-7 after two winners from junior Payne Lounsbery until Lancaster Bible battled back to 16-12 on a kill from Yoder.

Vassar moved ahead 21-17 after kills from Kim and Akoto before the Chargers got within two at 23-21.

The Brewers responded with the final two points as Fan buried a kill along with an ace from Kim to take the sweep.

For The Brewers
Kim led the way with 10 kills (.441 hitting percentage), 14 assists, two aces, two blocks and three digs.

Guaragno and Akoto each tallied six kills while Akoto recorded three blocks.
Ramsey added five winners and two blocks while senior AJ Erickson handed out 12 assists and lifted six digs.

First year Tucker Shearn lifted a team-high seven digs.

For The Chargers
Yoder finished with 10 kills and nine digs along with Forney adding eight winners and two blocks

Herr recorded five kills, 16 assists and five digs while Omogrosso tallied two kills, two aces and two blocks.

Tyler Martin registered six digs and five assists.

VC 3 MES 0
First Set
Neither team took a two point lead until Akoto buried a winner for Vassar to go ahead 10-8.

An ace from Ryan Givens got Messiah within 13-12 before the Brewers reeled off nine of the next 11 points.

Four different players tallied a kill for Vassar along with four consecutive blocks from Akoto, Guaragno and Ramsey to go ahead 22-14.

A winner from Guaragno, ace from Ramsey and a block from Akoto and Kim gave the Brewers a 25-15 first set victory.

Second Set
The Brewers gained a 7-3 lead to open the set, led by winners from Akoto, Guaragno and Ramsey and a block from Desai and Ramsey.

Three straight points, including two kills from Guaragno, extended the Vassar lead to 11-5.

A double block from Givens and Noah Aurdos cut the lead to two at 12-10 until back-to-back winners from Kim pushed the lead to four.

The Falcons got within one multiple times in the midway points of the set, including 18-17 on Jacob Hamm’s kill.

The Brewers scored seven of the next 10 points, led by two kills from Kim and Akoto, to take the second set.

Third Set
Guaragno landed three aces to propel Vassar to a 5-1 lead followed by aces from Lounsbery and Kim to extend the lead to 10-4.

Alex Kagoro’s kill trimmed the advantage down to 14-8 before the Brewers used three kills from Guaragno and one from Ramsey to take a 21-10 lead.

The Falcons scored six of the next seven points, including three kills from Hamm, to cut the lead to 22-17.

Following a timeout, Vassar scored the final three points, capped by a kill from Akoto and an ace from Ramsey, to complete the sweep.

For The Brewers
Guaragno had a team-high 11 kills along with three aces, two blocks and four digs along with Kim adding eight kills, 18 assists, two digs, an ace and a block.

Akoto recorded eight kills and six blocks while Ramsey secured eight winners, two aces and three blocks.

Erickson handed out 14 assists and Shearn lifted a team-best 10 digs.

For The Falcons
Hamm buried nine kills and added five digs while Kagoro tallied six kills and two digs.

Givens recorded four winners and two digs along with Conner Stauffer registering two kills and five digs.

Aurdos handed out 18 assists and lifted a team-high seven digs.