HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 7, 2009) – Senior middle hitter Andrew Cranford landed 16 kills and totaled four blocks to help lift the fourth-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team to a 3-1 win over No. 5 Vassar College Saturday afternoon in Hoboken, N.J. After falling in Set 1, the Ducks pulled it together to win the next three and capture their ninth win of the season. Stevens also improves to 2-0 in North East Collegiate Volleyball Association Metro division play as Vassar falls to 4-3 on the year and 3-1 in league action.
Having fallen in Set 1 (23-30), Stevens regrouped and came out firing in the second game. Tied at 15-all, the Ducks posted a 13-9 run behind the offensive prowess of Cranford and sophomore outside hitter SteFan PremDas. During that stretch, Cranford tallied three kills as PremDas came up huge for Stevens when he buried four-straight kills and added a huge service ace. Junior outside hitter Phil Tully (Huntington Station, N.Y.) kept the Brewers in it as he registered a pair of kills during that span. However, a kill from senior outside hitter John Dennan and an attacking error by Vassar allowed the Ducks to even the match at 1-1 as they won 30-25.
Set 3 (30-19) was off to a similar start as both teams fought back and forth early, till Stevens held a six-point advantage at 18-12. After both squads shared service errors, a pair of kills from Vassar followed by a ball handling error by Stevens cut the deficit to three (16-19). Senior outside hitter Joe Trinsey got Stevens back on track as he landed a kill. The Ducks then went on a 10-3 spurt to close out the set and take a 2-1 lead on the match. Cranford had a pair of kills, while sophomore setter Brandt Grobeis shelled out an ace and landed a kill of his own.
The final set (31-29) was neck and neck till Stevens grabbed a slight 9-8 lead. A passing miscue by the Brewers put Stevens up by two. Vassar retaliated as sophomore outside hitter Evan Fredericksen (Menlo Park, Calif.) posted a kill. Trinsey notched his seventh kill of the match but fired his serving attempt into the net as Stevens now led 11-10. It was back and forth till the score reached 19-16 in favor of the Ducks. Tully came through for the Brewers and recorded a kill to cut the lead down to two. Service errors and attacking errors were swapped by both squads till the set was at a 29-29 stalemate. Stevens went on to claim its ninth win of the year as consecutive attacking errors by Vassar closed out Set 4, 31-29 Stevens.
PremDas finished with 13 kills and a pair of aces, while he led defensively with 13 digs. Dennan registered 12 kills on the day to produce a .308 hitting percentage on 26 swings with four errors. Dennan also lofted 12 digs in the win. Cranford hit below his average, but was still impressive with a .382 attacking rating on 16 kills, three errors, 34 attempts. Freshman setter Derek Mulvey started the match and dished out 22 assists until he went down early in Set 2. Grobeis came off the bench and had a stellar outing as he stepped up and delivered 26 assists to keep the offense rolling for Stevens.
For Vassar, senior outside hitter Steve Micucci (Millis, Mass.) produced a .378 hitting percentage with 18 kills on 37 attempts and four errors. Fredericksen finished with 13 kills and lofted seven digs, while Tully blasted 16 kills and lifted nine digs. Senior setter John Kessenich (Chicago, Ill.) dished out 55 assists in the loss.
The Ducks will return to action on Thursday when they take on No. 3 Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa. scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.
