HUNTINGDON, Pa. (January 23, 2008) – The fifth-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team lost to the four-time defending Molten Division III Champions Juniata College Wednesday night at the Kennedy Sports and Recreation Center in Huntingdon, Pa. Down two games, Stevens battled back to force a fifth game, however fell short in a 17-15 decision (22-30, 24-30, 30-20, 30-26 and 15-17).
After a serve from junior setter Matt Werle (Meadville, Pa.), junior outside hitter Tomas Bochicchio brought the score of Game 5 to its seventh tie at 15-all with his twelfth kill of the match. Freshman Chris Vrooman (Baden, Pa.) and junior Dan Powers (Lancaster, Pa.) blocked an attack attempt from Bochicchio, as Juniata regained possession and earned a point on the side-out. An attack error by Bochicchio resulted in a 3-2 win over the Ducks.
Down two games to none, the Ducks came out firing in Game 3 jumping out to a 5-0 lead. Later in the game Stevens opened it up as the score read 20-12 from five consecutive points off the service of junior middle hitter Doug Reger. The Ducks would go on to win 30-20.
Game 4 was close throughout, however Juniata held a slight advantage. With the score tied at 24, a block from sophomore outside hitter Stefan PremDas and junior middle hitter Andrew Cranford, as well as a Cranford kill, gave the Ducks a 27-26 lead. Stevens scored the final three points after an attack error from Vrooman.
Both Cranford and Reger registered nine kills apiece, while junior outside hitter Joe Trinsey totaled eight kills. Freshman setter Brandt Grobeis dished for 41 assists as he leads the team with 117, a 9.75 assists per game average. Bochicchio added 12 digs and four service aces.
Tonight's match featured the Eagles season opener as is started the year ranked third in the country by the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top-15 Division III Coaches Poll. Senior outside hitter Matt Fritz (Churchville, Md.) led the Eagles with 18 kills, while last seasons AVCA Division III Player of the Year Matt Werle posted 53 assists. Senior opposite-hitter Zack Bock (Mount Wolf, Pa.) had 11 kills as sophomore libero Anthony Damiano (Lititz, Pa.) added 16 digs.
Stevens will return to action on Saturday as they host No. 9 Nazareth College, No. 7 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Hunter College, Baruch College and No. 4 Carthage College in its Invitational. Saturday features the Ducks against Nazareth at 6 p.m. on court 1, while the Engineers of MIT take on Carthage on court 2. At 8 p.m. Stevens will face Baruch, while Carthage and Hunter are slotted to square off. The tournament will conclude on Sunday after three more rounds of competition. MIT plays Hunter and Nazareth takes on Baruch at 10 a.m. Two semifinal matches will be played at 12 p.m. followed by the championship match slotted for a 2 p.m. start. Matches will take place in the Canavan Arena.
