POUGHKEEPSIE, NY (February 5, 2010) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team dropped a hard-fought (25-30, 26-30, 27-30)  match to Vassar College that was decided by a total of 12 points in Poughkeepsie, N.Y on Friday night. Junior Bryant DeFranco lead the Ducks with 11 kills in a valiant effort.

“We played well, and we missed a couple of key players due to injury,” said head coach Patrick Dorywalski. “DeFranco really stepped up for the team tonight, and SteFan PremDas also played very well for us.”

Other highlights for the Ducks included junior middle hitter Timothy Karl, who posted a .636 hitting percentage in the match. Setter Brandt Grobeis also turned in a good performance, with 40 assists in three sets.

The second set, which was the best of the three for Stevens with a .316 hitting percentage, was tied twice, at 11-11 and 16-16. The Ducks would get two kills from senior Christopher Egebo and a big kill from Karl to draw within 24-23, but Vassar provided the necessary kills down the stretch to keep Stevens at bay. DeFranco had back to back kills to draw Stevens within 29-26, but the Brewers closed out the set with a kill down the middle.

Stevens drops to 5-2, 1-1 in the Metro. Both teams will travel to Castle Point on Saturday and each will play Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Endicott College at Noon and 2:00 p.m.