No team in Vassar College Athletics history had ever made it to a national title game, until April 28th, when the Vassar men’s volleyball team went head-to-head with California Lutheran in Dubuque, Iowa. The match was a gritty, three-set contest that ended up crowning Cal Lu national champions, but what preceded the match was a historic and unprecedented run from a team that graduated 85% of its offense—including two all-Americans—the year prior. Head coach Richard Gary told The Miscellany News, “It was one of those wild years where we could miss the NCAA’s all together or we could win it all.” This was undoubtedly a special year for Vassar Men’s Volleyball, and the senior class made sure of that. Captain Jacob Kim ’24 told The Miscellany News how he and the senior class had established a winning culture. “From the beginning of the year, we knew that we had something special going on. Since we were first years, my group of seniors and I knew how we wanted to set the culture of the team to help us be a blue blood Division III men’s volleyball program. We were a team who wanted to lead with love and truly play for each other. Not just because they were our teammates, but because they were our best friends.” Kim had been a pivotal piece in not just Vassar Volleyball, but Vassar Athletics, posting one of the most outstanding careers in recent Vassar Athletics history. Kim finished his tenure at Vassar, among an array of accolades, as 2021 and 2023 United Volleyball Conference (UVC) Champion and 2023 UVC Championship Most Valuable Player, 4x UVC Player of the week, 2022 and 2023 All-UVC Second Team, 2023 Betty Richey Performer of the Year, 2024 All-UVC First Team and Player of the Year and 2024 American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) First-Team All-American. Vassar Men’s Volleyball prolific standing within Vassar is testament to Kim’s experience and ability. But it was more than just Kim. Vassar had a special postseason, and that was due to their entire senior class’s versatility.