Prior to the match, the team honored seniors (L-R) Ratmir Gorelik, Ivan Andujar, Takeshi Kawahigshashi, Radu Wyrwas, and Jonathan Tuwaidan.  

BOX SCORE

The #5-ranked men’s volleyball team lost in four sets to #9-ranked Vassar College on Thursday night in the ARC Arena.

The Bearcats started quickly by taking a 20-11 lead in the opening set to cruise to a 30-19 victory behind a .464 hitting percentage.

In the second set, the Bearcats took control again early to build a 17-12 advantage, but the visiting Brewers battled all the way back to tie the set at 21. The Bearcats had two set point opportunities (29-26, 30-29) to take the 2-0 match lead, but Vassar battled back to tie at 29 and again at 30.

Vassar would win the second set behind an Evan Fredericksen kill and a Baruch attack error to break a 31-31 tie to pull out the 33-31 second set victory.

The third set saw the two teams tied early at 14, but Vassar tallied seven of the next eight points for a 21-15 advantage. Baruch managed to get as close as 23-17 and hit for a .390 percentage in the set, but Vassar finished strong (.324) for a 30-23 victory to take the 2-1 lead.

The Bearcats regained their momentum in the fourth set and led 17-14, but the visiting Brewers battled back again to tie the set at 18. The fourth set featured six more ties, including 24-24, but Vassar used the hitting of Phil Tully to go set point at 29-27.

Baruch never lost their composure and following a timeout, Pablo Oliveira notched a kill and Vassar committed an attack error for a 29-29 tie in a tense, yet excited gym.

The two teams exchanged points again for another tie at 30, but Vassar scored the final two points on Tully’s 10th kill of the fourth set and a Matthew Elgin ace to clinch the 32-30 victory for the 3-1 match final score.

Oliveira (.429) and Santos Rivera (.333) led the Bearcats this evening with 17 kills each, while Sequiel Sanchez (.333) totaled 13 kills and nine digs. Ivan Andujar (37 assists) and Radu Wyrwas (21 assists) were busy setting up the offensive attack all evening.

Tully led the visitors this evening with 29 kills (.312), while Evan Fredericksen finished with 20 kills (.229) and five digs. John Konow dished out 55 assists.

The men’s volleyball team will continue their regular season schedule on Monday, April 5, with a 7:00 pm match at #15-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.