Men's Volleyball 2/3/2009 8:41:21 PM

Men's Volleyball Falls to Vassar in Four

Violets Drop Third Straight to Fall to 1-8 on the Season

Devin Zolnowski tied a career high with 29 kills against Vassar.

Despite a career-high-tying 29 kills from senior captain Devin Zolnowski, the New York University men's volleyball team fell in four sets to Vassar College, Tuesday, Feb. 3, at the Coles Sports Center in Manhattan.

The Violets (1-8), ranked 10th in the Bison/AVCA Division III Men's Coaches Top 15 Poll, started slowly against the fifth-ranked Brewers (4-2), allowing Vassar to stay close early on. The Brewers capitalized on NYU mistakes, taking a three-point lead at 10-7 off of a kill from sophomore Evan Fredrickson.

Coming out of a timeout, the Violets took the next point to cut the lead to two. However, Vassar would regain its composure to extend its lead to five at 14-9. For the rest of the set, the two teams traded points, with the Brewers taking as much as a six-point lead at 23-17. NYU managed to cut the lead to four at 28-24, but were never able to get any closer as Vassar took the first set 30-25.

In the second set, Vassar came out on fire, jumping out to a 9-4 lead and forcing NYU to take its first timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Brewers continued their onslaught, quickly extending their lead to eight at 14-6 off of another Fredrickson kill. The two teams traded the next few points before NYU regained its composure. The Violets cut the lead to less than five for the first time since 9-5 off of a service ace from sophomore Ori Oren. An attack error by Vassar on the next play cut the lead to 16-13 and the Violets were right back in the set.

The lead remained at least three points until back-to-back Vassar attack errors brought NYU to within two at 21-19. Sophomore Fran Hodgson put down the next ball on the next play, forcing the Brewers to talk things over. Five plays later the Violets tied the score for the first time since 1-1, as Zolnowski put down a kill to even the score at 23. The Brewers regained the lead on the next play off of a kill from Fredrickson. However, it would the team team's last lead of the set. A Vassar attack error on the next play evened the score and NYU went on to take the next three points to take the lead for good as the Violets went on to take the set 30-27.

In the third set, the Violets carried over their momentum from the win to take a quick 11-8 lead, forcing an early timeout from the Vassar bench. Coming out of the timeout, the Brewers managed to hold NYU close, not allowing the Violets to extend their lead past three points.

After managing to hold NYU close for the first half of the set, the Brewers made their move, tying the score at 16 on a kill from senior Greg Maier and taking the lead 17-16 on the next play with a kill from junior Phil Tully. Hodgson notched a kill on the next play to tie the score, but NYU's momentum was lost. After trading leads with the Violets, Vassar took the lead for good at 22-21 off an NYU service error. The error sparked a four-point run to give Vassar a 25-22 lead. That would be all that the Brewers would need as they went on to a 30-24 win.

In set four, Vassar once again jumped on top of the Violets early, forcing an NYU timeout at 8-3. After the timeout, Vassar would build its lead to five at 10-5. However, this time, NYU would not allow the Brewers to build their lead any farther, eventually bringing the score to 13-10 off of a Zolnowski kill. Vassar would not be fazed however, as they quickly rebuilt a six-point advantage at 16-10.

The lead would remain at least five until NYU freshman Luke Hamlet put a service ace down the line to bring the Violets to within four at 20-16. An attack error on the next play on the part of the Brewers cut the lead to three. However, the Violets were never able to come any closer down the stretch as Vassar eventually clinched the match with 30-26, set-four win.

Along with his 29 kill on offense, Zolnowski put up 10 digs for his third double-double in four matches.

Also in double-digits for the Violets were junior Michael Ferragonio with 10 kills and Hodgson, who put down 11 while adding a team-high five blocks.

Along the back line for NYU, freshman Jay Hayes had another strong outing, putting up 11 digs while passing a perfect 36 for 36.

For the Brewers, Tully notched a team-high 26 kills and hit a match-high .537, Senior Scott Lesserman led all players with 18 digs.

The Violets return to action this Friday night when they travel to Cambridge, MA, to take on EIVA Hay rival Harvard University at 7:00 pm.