In a rousing end to the fall intramural (IM) volleyball season, Oarsmen (6-0) defeated both Mind Goblins (6-1) in the semifinal and Safe Sets (7-0) in the grand final to clinch their second consecutive Intramural Volleyball Championship. The semifinal and final were held in Kenyon Hall on Thursday, Oct. 31, and also featured Hooters (5-1), who fell in the semifinal to the eventual runner-ups Safe Sets. The Oarsmen’s championship run was illustrative of continued dominance in the league: The defending champions led their division and had not lost a set before the semifinal, where they dropped the first set to the Mind Goblins before forcing and winning a tiebreaker third set to advance to the championship. Safe Sets also lived up to their name in the regular season, losing only one set to Grey division rivals Professional NARPs (2-5) before their eventual loss in the Championship, where they dropped two first-to-25 sets, conceding the final set 25-13. Oarsman Hogan Fletchner ’27 delivered the game-winning ace.
“It feels good going back-to-back,” Fletchner said. “There’s a competition in that IM tournament week that reminds me of playing in high school, and I missed that. It’s overall a ton of fun that you can’t get anywhere else. Winning two semesters in a row is a great feeling, especially because I now have two T-shirts to choose from.” One constant of Vassar Intramural tournaments is the “Intramural Champions” t-shirt, which is awarded to the squad that wins each tournament’s championship. At Vassar, IM Champion t-shirts have become a badge of honor for some players and teams, and are coveted among players who have not yet earned one. “It’s fun and it’s good natured and it adds stakes to the game,” Fletchner said. “Who doesn’t love free merch?”
At the beginning of the playoffs, many teams were competing for the “IM Champs” t-shirt. This semester’s semifinal and championship was a culmination of a single-elimination playoff tournament, determined by regular season standings. The Oct. 28 quarterfinals were preceded by a play-in round, where Block and Ball Torture (4-3) defeated Monkeynomics (4-3) in the Burgundy Division and BES TEAM BEST EAM BEST TE (4-3) bested Best Goblins (4-3) in the Grey Division. Despite the hard-earned entry into the playoffs, both teams could not upset the first seeds in the quarterfinals, where Block and Ball Torture was defeated by Safe Sets and the Oarsmen put BES TEAM BEST EAM BEST TE to bed with a 2-0 victory. The quarterfinals were also where eventual semifinals contenders Mind Goblins and Hooters would punch their tickets, with 2-1 and 2-0 wins over Fifth Floor Fledglings (4-3) and Fortnite Spikes (4-3), respectively.
Both the Oarsmen and the runner-up Safe Sets have ties to Vassar sports teams: The Oarsmen are primarily made up of male members of the Vassar rowing team, while many Safe Sets signees have ties to Vassar baseball. In accordance with intramural regulations, both teams have only one varsity volleyball player on their squad, to keep competition fair between teams of differing skill levels. The one player limit extends to all intramural seasons whose sport also has a varsity team at Vassar. In the upcoming winter basketball season, for example, only one varsity player from either the men’s or women’s basketball team is allowed to join each intramural squad.
Casey McMenamin ’26, a libero for the men’s volleyball team, anchored the Oarsmen on their way to victory. He rejoined the team after a heartbreaking loss in the semifinal in the fall 2023 season (the Vassar men’s volleyball team does not allow their roster to participate in the spring IM seasons, where the Oarsmen picked up their first championship). He said, of the victory and his return, “The reason why I came back for this season was because we had unfinished business. We lost to eventual champions Safe Sets in a heartbreaking three set loss in the semifinals last fall. This year we were able to avenge our loss in the championship game. That was really gratifying being able to overcome last year’s [fall] loss.”
McMenamin also recognized his role as a varsity player: “As a varsity player, my goal for this IM season was to grow the game. I wanted to teach my friends a couple skills and coach them up, so that we can have an absolute blast playing this amazing game… Obviously winning is way more fun than losing, so winning it all was great, but that was not the ultimate goal for the season. As a player, I tried to get everyone involved and spread the ball around.”The Oarsmen plan to three-peat this spring, hoping to play through the loss of McMenamin. Taking McMenamin’s spot on the six-man roster will be Trygve Aarestad ’26 who will be returning from a semester abroad at St. Andrews University. Capturing a third consecutive title will require the squad to embrace the message displayed on their uniforms: “Live, laugh, love, grow, dream, believe.” First though, is a bout in the six-versus-six Indoor Soccer League, where they will face formidable foes such as Fortnite FC, Cornjerkers and Deece Nuts. If you would like to participate in 6v6 Indoor Soccer, please contact mcallahan@vassar.edu or go to https://www.imleagues.com/spa/intramural/9bc3e60eb0b743699ce976f47ba7f5d6/home.
