PremDas' Double-Double Not Enough As Men's Volleyball Falls To No. 13 SUNY New Paltz

2/17/2010 12:00:00 AM

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (February 17, 2010) – Despite a season-high 21 kills and 10 digs from junior SteFan PremDas, the Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team, ranked 11th in the most recent American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll, lost in a battle between two Top-15 teams, falling to No. 13 SUNY New Paltz, 3-1 (25-30, 30-28, 30-25, 31-29). The Ducks are now 8-6 on the season with a 1-2 mark against North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) Metro Division opponents, while the Hawks improved to 9-5 overall with a 3-0 league ledger.

Senior co-captain John Dennan had 14 kills in the loss, while Bryant DeFranco finished 10 kills and seven digs. Junior co-captain Brandt Grobeis dished out 51 assists, while junior libero Aaron Ostrovsky has a team-high 12 digs in defense.

Jake Moore (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) led New Paltz offensively, with 20 kills, while Kevin Stross (Port Washington, N.Y.) added 16 kills. Daniel Liberto (Rush, N.Y.) and Jonathan Van Dyke (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.) had 13 and 11 kills, respectively, while junior setter Andrew Cassius (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had a match-high 63 assists and 12 digs. Senior Mike Fink (Rochester, N.Y.) chipped in with a match-high 18 digs.

The Ducks will hope to rebound on Monday, February 22 when they play host to Division I Sacred Heart University.

Set 1: Stevens 30, SUNY New Paltz 25
Down 2-1 after a pair of Liberto and Stross kills, PremDas hammered home his first kill of the evening to knot the set at two. With the frame still tied at six, the Hawks committed back-to-back errors, spurring a 7-3 Ducks' rally capped off by a Dennan kill.

Up 13-10 after a Moore spike, Stevens rattled off five of the set's next seven points to take an 18-12 advantage, but New Paltz responded with a 7-2 rally of its own – capped off by a Liberto kill – to make it 20-19.

A Dennan kill and service ace coupled with a Hawks' attack error helped the Ducks' regain a four-point cushion before Liberto notched his fourth kill of the set to cut it to 23-20. Stevens would then take advantage of a pair of New Paltz errors, outscoring the Hawks 7-5 down the stretch as PremDas put away his sixth kill to stake the Ducks to a 1-0 set lead.

Set 2: New Paltz 30, Stevens 28
Once again finding themselves down 2-1 to start the second set, Stevens reeled off three of the stanza's next four points to regain a 4-3 edge. Still trailing by one at 8-7 following another Dennan kill, Liberto found a crease in the Ducks' defense, pounding home his fifth tally to knot the set at eight. Stross then recorded back-to-back kills to give New Paltz a 10-8 lead before PremDas ended the quick 3-0 Hawks' spurt with a score.

Trailing 13-11 after a Van Dyke kill, the Ducks pulled even thanks to a pair of Hawk errors, before DeFranco put Stevens back on top with a service ace. After a another Van Dyke kill once again knotted the set at 14, Stross registered four of the matches' next seven points to give New Paltz a slight 18-17 edge.

Clinging to a one-point advantage at 22-21, the Hawks capitalized on Stevens' errors on four of the set's next five possessions to build a 25-22 lead. Still down three after a Moore kill made it 28-25, the Ducks battled back, cutting it to 29-28, but a Stevens' attack error gave the Hawks a 30-28 set win, tying the match at one.

Set 3: New Paltz 30, Stevens 25
New Paltz raced out to an early lead in the pivotal third set, mounting a 4-1 run, capped off by a Foley kill. After a Timothy Karl spike trimmed the margin to 5-3, the Hawks embarked on another rally, this time scoring five of the set's next seven points to take a 10-5 advantage.

Stevens fought back however; cutting it to 14-12 before a Foley kill kick-started a 5-2 New Paltz run that gave the Hawks a five-point lead. PremDas brought the Ducks within four at 21-17 with his 16th kill of the day, but three unanswered New Paltz points gave the Hawks their largest lead of the match at 24-17.

The Ducks rallied to quickly cut it to 27-23, but the Hawks did just enough – getting a pair of Liberto kills – to close out Stevens, 30-25.

Set 4: New Paltz 31, Stevens 29
Tied at two in the early going, Stross buried a kill to give the Hawks the lead before a Stevens' handling error and a Stross service ace put New Paltz up 5-2. A DeFranco tally coupled with a New Paltz attack error made it 5-4, before three-consecutive points on a Karl kill, PremDas ace, and a Grobeis spike, helped Stevens regain a 7-6 lead.

Both teams would trade points over the next few minutes of action before New Paltz finally pulled even at 19 thanks to a Stross kill. With the set still tied at 20, Moore put the Hawks back on top with his 17th kill, but two straight Stevens points once again gave the Ducks a one-point edge in what was quickly becoming a see-saw affair.

Moore responded with yet another kill followed by a service ace to put the Hawks back on top at 23-22, but three-straight New Paltz errors gave Stevens a two-point lead, while forcing a Hawks timeout. Still down two at 27-25, Stross put away a kill to bring New Paltz within one before a Stevens' error again tied the set.

The Ducks then scored two of the frame's next three points on a couple of Dennan scores, but the resilient Hawks rallied, using a Moore spike and a pair of Stevens' errors to take the set, 31-29 and seal the victory.
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