POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. – The Stevenson men's volleyball team (4-10) fell to MIT (8-5, 0-1 UVC) in straight sets before falling to fifth-ranked Vassar (11-0, 1-0 UVC) with the same result.
 
Vs MIT (16-25, 19-25, 22-25)
 
The Engineers opened a 5-10 lead before ripping a five-point run to move their advantage to 6-15. Ryan Thenell sent down a kill to slow the momentum while Elliot De La Torre added a kill to narrow the gap to 8-16. Stevenson used a three-point run to narrow the gap to 15-22, which included a kill from Jack Braverman and a block from Aidan O'Brien and Brian Farell. MIT closed the opening set on a 3-1 run to take the frame 16-25.
 
Stevenson hit for its match-best .300 in the second set, however MIT also hit their match-best in the frame, registering a .500 hit percentage as the sides battled through 12 tie scores and five lead changes. The sides battled back-and-forth to a 14-14 tie before MIT gained a narrow 14-16 lead and never looked back. The Engineers took a 7-2 run to close out the frame at 19-25.
 
The Mustangs responded in the third frame by taking a 12-7 lead on the heels of a 7-1 run capped by a block from Elliot De La Torre and Justin Novoa. The sides traded points to the 14-9 mark before MIT overtook the advantage with an 8-1 run for a 15-17 lead. Stevenson regained its lead with a 4-1 run capped by back-to-back kills from O'Brien and De La Torre. MIT riffled a 7-3 run to close out the set and win the frame 22-25.
 
Vs No. 5 Vassar (17-25, 22-25, 19-25)
 
Vassar opened a 9-14 lead on the heels of a three-point run in the first set. De La Torre added an ace to cap a two-point swing at 11-14, just the second stretch Stevenson was able to add multiple tallies together. Stevenson halted a 4-1 run with a kill from Jack Braverman at 13-18. Brian Farrel and Elliot De La Torre teamed up for a block to set the frame at 16-21. The Brewers finished the set with a 4-1 run to take the set at 17-25.
 
The Brewers lead the second set wire-to-wire. Vassar took an 8-13 lead before the Mustangs could chip away to cut the deficit to 10-13 following a block from Aidan O'Brien and Jack Braverman. Vassar moved its lead to 12-18 with a 4-1 run before Stevenson made riffled off a 6-1 run to cut the lead to 18-19. Elliot De La Torre added three kills in the run with another from Braverman and an ace from Justin Novoa. The sides traded three-point tallies to the 22-23 mark but Vassar closed the set with the final two points to take the middle stanza 22-25.
 
The third set saw five tie scores and only one lead change as Vassar recorded an impressive .714 hit percentage. Aidan O'Brien sent down a kill to square the set at 6 apiece, but a five-point Vassar run set the score to 6-11. The Mustangs used a 6-2 run to narrow the gap to 13-14 with another ace from De La Torre. The Brewers responded with an 8-1 run to take a 14-22 lead. The Mustangs added a 5-2 run to narrow the gap to 19-24. Minh Christensen, Aidan O'Brien, Elliot De La Torre and Jack Braverman each added kills in the run. Vassar added the final point to take the set 19-25.
 
What's Next

• Stevenson returns to action to face Marymount (Va.) on Wednesday, February 22 at 6pm at Owings Mills gymnasium.