HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 13, 2010) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team ran its season-best win-streak to eight with a pair of sweeps over North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA) Metro Division rivals Polytechnic University and New Jersey City University in a tri-match at Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. The Ducks defeated the Fighting Blue Jays, 3-0 (30-14, 30-14, 40-15), to open play before downing the Gothic Knights, 3-0 (30-20, 30-17, 30-24) in the afternoon session. NJCU defeated NYU-Poly, 3-0 (30-9, 30-16, 30-20) in the day's other match.
Senior Andrew Fessler led the way for Stevens with 17 kills, 27 assists, and 13 digs on the day, while junior Timothy Karl tallied 15 kills, nine digs, and seven blocks in a pair of matches. Fellow junior Bryant DeFranco finished with 12 kills and seven digs, while co-captain Brandt Grobeis had 51 assists, seven digs, and five blocks.
The Ducks return to action on Wednesday, March 24 when they travel to Newark, N.J. to face Division I New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Stevens 3, Polytechnic 0 (30-14, 30-14, 30-15)
Stevens dominated play from the get-go hitting .515, while surrendering just nine kills on 35 swings (.086) en route to a 30-14 first set victory. From there, the Ducks continued to apply pressure throughout the match, hitting .414 and .484 in the second and third sets, respectively. Conversely, Stevens held the Fighting Blue Jays to a -.050 and -.048 in the final two frames.
Junior Jonathan Landis and DeFranco put away eight kills to pace Stevens offensively, while freshman middle hitter James Mataras had seven kills. Fessler and freshman Jon Rohan finished with six kills apiece. Fessler and Grobeis dished out 26 and 14 assists, respectively, while freshmen Tom Hannum and Ricky Budar each collected a team-high five digs in defense.
NYU-Poly's Joe Gabor (Warwick, N.Y.) led the Blue Jays with eight kills and six digs, while junior outside hitter James Lukban (Bronx, N.Y.) had five kills and four digs. Senior Robert Petri (St. Louis, Mo.) tallied a team-high17 assists, while senior libero Tom Poppenberg (Springville, N.Y.) had 11 digs.
NJCU 3, Polytechnic 0 (30-9, 30-16, 30-20)
NJCU's Jose Matta (San Juan, Puerto Rico) led the Gothic Knights with 12 kills and three digs, while sophomore outside hitter Kenny Lisk (Old Bridge, N.J.) had eight kills and seven digs. Junior libero Chris Edra (Edison, N.J.) tallied a match-best 14 digs, while Senior Felipe Siqueira (Newark, N.J.) had 19 assists.
Gabor finished with seven kills and six digs for NYU-Poly, while Lukban had three kills and eight digs. Petro notched 11 assists, seven digs, and three kills in the loss.
Stevens 3, NJCU 0 (30-20, 30-17, 30-24)
The Ducks again started out hot, notching a .314 hitting percentage on 35 swings, while holding the Gothic Knights to a .054 clip in a 30-20 first set triumph. Stevens then registered a .458 hitting percentage with 14 kills, while NJCU hit just .040 in a 30-17 second set loss. The Ducks closed out the match with a .300 hitting percentage in the third and final set, while the Gothic Knights managed just 12 kills on 47 swings (.043).
Fessler tallied a match-high 11 kills and nine digs in the win, while Karl had 10 kills, five digs, and five blocks. Senior co-captain John Dennan had eight kills, while Grobeis finished with 37 assists, six digs, and four blocks.
Matta and Lisk recorded 10 kills apiece to lead NJCU, with the duo also combining for 16 digs. Edra matched a team-high with nine digs, while Siqueira dished out 17 assists.
