HUNTINGDON, Pa. (February 12, 2009) – The fourth-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team dropped its second match of the year to No. 3 Juniata College Thursday night in Huntingdon, Pa. The Ducks received outstanding performances from its middle hitters, however could not fully overcome the 0-2 deficit as Stevens took the Eagles to Set 5 that resulted in a 21-19 outcome in favor of Juniata. The Ducks fell in similar fashion a year ago when Stevens trailed two sets to none and sent it to a fifth game before falling 17-15. Senior middle hitter Andrew Cranford produced a .500 hitting percentage as he landed 16 kills and totaled seven blocks in tonight's loss.
After falling behind in Sets 1 and 2, Stevens battled back to knot the match at 2-2 as the Ducks claimed Sets 3 and 4. Stevens trailed 8-6 at the switch and quickly tied things up at 8-all off a pair of kills from senior outside hitter Joe Trinsey. After both squads traded attacking errors, junior outside hitter Zach Wanner (Lancaster, Pa.) put the Eagles back on top with a kill. Cranford followed up with a kill as Wanner retaliated with his fourth of the set to give Juniata a 13-11 advantage with Stevens burning its first timeout.
The pep talk was what the Ducks needed as senior middle hitter Doug Reger fired a kill and a Juniata attacking error brought the set to a 13-13 tie. It was then tied at 14, 15 and 16 as the Ducks received points on kills from Reger and Trinsey, followed by an Eagles' attacking miscue (16-16). Senior setter Matt Werle (Meadville, Pa.) launched a service ace to put Juniata back on top, however senior outside hitter John Dennan brought the set to its eighth tie as he registered a kill. There was no answer for Wanner as he notched his fifth kill of the set to give the Eagles the slight advantage. A service error on Juniata tied it at 18-all, but Wanner kept it rolling as he landed his sixth kill to put the host school up 19-18. Cranford tied the set for the tenth time with his third kill of the game. Junior middle hitter Evan Halteman (Perkiomenville, Pa.) recorded the biggest kill of the night to allow Juniata to take a 20-19 lead. It was a ball handling error that silenced the Ducks as they fall to 9-2 on the year.
On paper the Ducks played slightly better than the Eagles. Stevens out-hit Juniata, having produced a .370 team hitting percentage as the Eagles notched a .307 attacking rating. The Ducks posted 15.5 total blocks to nine of Juniata. Stevens had fewer attacking errors as well (25-27), however serving errors paid a toll on the outcome with the Ducks having amassed 22 to the Eagles 12.
Not enough could be said about the stellar play by the Stevens' middles. Reger hit .476 with 13 kills, five blocks and an ace, while Cranford was dominant all night at the net. Dennan totaled 16 kills as PremDas followed with 13. Sophomore setter Brandt Grobeis dished out 67 assists and got on the board offensively with nine kills. Defensively for the Ducks, PremDas led with 12 digs, while Trinsey and Dennan each had eight.
Tonight started a long weekend for the Ducks as they return to play tomorrow in the Nazareth College Tournament in Rochester, N.Y. Stevens will face three nationally ranked opponents in No. 11 Carthage College, No. 13 Eastern Mennonite University and No. 14 Medaille College. On Friday the Ducks take on Carthage and EMU at 2 and 6 p.m., respectively. Stevens will wrap-up the road trip on Saturday with a pair of matches against SUNY New Paltz at 10 a.m. and Medaille at 2 p.m.
