NEW YORK, N.Y. – Cal Lutheran men's volleyball topped No. 9 Vassar College in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to advance to the Elite Eight on Friday night with set scores of 19-25, 25-17, 25-15, 25-20.

The victory brings the Kingsmen to 22-6 on the year as they sent the Brewers home in defeat for the second year in a row. 

Michael Stahl led the way with a 20 kill, 18 dig double-double and a .438 hitting percentage. Ben Weber and Jordan Cooper followed with 14 and 10 kills respectively, while Borys Horiuk and Parker Brown added five apiece.  

Gavin Galanski recorded the fourth double-double of his career with 47 assists and 12 digs, and while not reflected in the box score, Braden Gonzales held down the back row with three digs and a heap of impressive serve receptions.

After a bit of a bumpy start in the first set, the Kingsmen controlled the rest of the game. They hit .359 percent compared to Vassar's .218, and out-dug the Brewers 56-42.

In set two, the Kingsmen climbed out of an early four-point hole with a kill from Stahl and a block by Galanski and Horiuk. The teams then exchanged a pair of points before Cal Lutheran took four-straight to hold its first lead. 

Vassar worked to tie the set at nine, but four more consecutive points from the Kingsmen allowed them to steal the momentum and run with it. The Brewers failed to make any sort of comeback in the set, and Stahl sealed the deal with his 12th kill of the night.

Vassar opened the third with a 4-3 run, giving Cal Lu all three points on service errors. Stahl knotted it at four with an ace, followed by a Brewer kill before a five-point Kingsmen rampage. 

Horiuk tied it back up with a kill, then partnered with Galanski to reject Vassar's attack at the net. The Purple & Gold would take advantage of a Brewer error, followed up by back-to-back kills from Weber and Stahl to make it 9-5 Cal Lu. 

The Kingsmen held on tight to their lead and finished the set with a kill from Brown to head to the finale.

The squads evenly exchanged points in the fourth, keeping things close as Vassar led 10-9. Cal Lu then went on a dominant 10-2 run featuring kills from Stahl, Horiuk, and Weber to take a seven-point lead. 

With their season on the line, the Brewers chipped away to cut their deficit to four by match point, but a kill out of the middle from Horiuk called game and ended Vassar's championship run.

The Kingsmen will be back at it again tomorrow, taking on the regional host No. 1 New York University at 3:30 PM PT, watch it live here. Tomorrow's winner will advance to the Final Four in Salem, Virginia next weekend.

Watch Cal Lutheran's postgame press conference here, featuring Head Coach Kevin Judd, Stahl, and Galanski.