Men's Volleyball Falls To Division I Sacred Heart

2/22/2010 12:00:00 AM

HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 22, 2010) – Despite a match-high 13 kills from junior SteFan PremDas, the Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team dropped its matchup with Division I Sacred Heart University, 3-0 (32-30, 30-22, 30-20). The Ducks are now 8-7 on the season with a 1-2 record against North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) Metro Division opponents, while the Pioneers improved to 7-3 on the year with a 3-0 conference record in the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association's (EIVA) Hay division.

Junior middle hitter Timothy Karl helped shoulder the Ducks' offensive burden with seven kills, while freshman counterpart Jake Modestow had five kills and four blocks. Junior co-captain Brandt Grobeis dished out 33 assists, while fellow junior Aaron Ostrovsky collected 10 digs in defense.

Sacred Heart junior Roger Parent (Burlington, Conn.) tied for the match-high with 13 kills, with sophomore middle blocker Mike Komlanc (St. Croix, Virgin Islands) had 10 kills and eight blocks. Junior setter Tim Sadowski (Salem, N.H.) finished with a match-high 42 assists, while freshman Adrian Fernandez (San Juan, Puerto Rico) had nine digs.

Set 1: SHU 32, Stevens 30
SHU roared out of the gate, scoring nine of the set's first 10 points to take an eight-point lead. Still down eight at 10-2, Stevens responded with a 12-3 rally of its own to take a 14-13 advantage. PremDas hammered home a pair of kills during the crucial Ducks' run – which also included eight Pioneer errors.

Still up one at 17-16 after another PremDas tally, Parent scored a kill on the ensuing SHU possession to tie the game at 17. With the set knotted at 21 after a Karl spike, Parent momentarily gave the Pioneers the edge with another kill before seven unanswered Stevens points, capped off by a Jonathan Landis kill, staked the Ducks to a 28-22 lead. Undaunted, SHU rallied, scoring 10 of the frame's final 12 points to take a 1-0 set advantage.

Set 2: SHU 30, Stevens 22
The Pioneers again raced out to an early lead in the second set, going up 7-2 on an early service ace. Stevens slowly trimmed the lead however; battling back to within two at 16-14 on a Bryant DeFanco kill, but a 5-1 SHU spurt, capped off by a Kalani Efstathiou (Beaverton, Ore.) spike quickly made it 21-14.

The Ducks pulled within five at 25-20, but that was as close as Stevens would come, with the Pioneers closing out the set on a 5-2 run, taking a decisive 2-0 set lead.

Set 3: SHU 30, Stevens 20
Knotted at four in the early going, the Pioneers mounted a 12-6 run, taking a 16-10 edge on Sadowski's third kill of the match. Still up six at 19-13, SHU went on a 6-3 run to take a commanding 25-16 lead. Still up nine at 28-19, Parent and junior outside hitter Craig Harvey (Beverly, Mass.), accounted for two of the set's final three points, with each finding a hole in the Ducks' defense and putting away the match-clinching kills.

Stevens is back in action on Wednesday, February 24 against American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) No. 9 New York University.
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