Modestow, PremDas Help Men's Volleyball Sweep Vassar

2/17/2011 12:00:00 AM

HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 17, 2011) – Sophomore Jake Modestow and senior SteFan PremDas each tallied nine kills as the Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-21) victory over visiting United Volleyball Conference rival Vassar College at Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. With the win, the Ducks, winners of four of their last five matches, improved to 10-3 overall on the season with a 3-1 league ledger, while the Brewers fell to 8-6 on the year with a 1-2 mark against conference opponents.

Stevens raced out to an early four-point lead in the first set, taking a 7-4 edge on a PremDas kill and a Vassar error. Continuing to apply pressure, the Ducks tallied three of the set's next four points, building a six-point lead on consecutive PremDas service aces.

Trailing 16-10, the Brewers would batted back to within four, cutting it to 17-13 on a Stevens' attack error, but three unanswered Ducks' points upped the margin back up to seven. After a Lucas Rathjens (Sudbury, Mass.) spike trimmed the Brewer deficit to 20-14, Stevens junior Timothy Karl and PremDas hammered home back-to-back points as the Ducks did enough down the stretch to earn a 25-17 first set triumph.

Down 10-9 in the second, Stevens senior Jonathan Landis found a crease in the Vassar defense, notching a kill that kick-started a 6-1 Ducks' run. Up four at 17-13, Stevens capitalized on consecutive Brewer miscues, before another Landis spike coupled with a Vassar error gave staked the Ducks to a seven-point cushion.

Still up seven at 22-15, the Stevens tallied the set's final three points, on a David Evans kill, a Brewer attack error, and a Brandt Grobeis service ace to take a 2-0 match advantage.

Looking to complete the sweep, the Ducks took an early 6-3 lead in the third, but Vassar would battle back, pulling even at 11 on an Evan Fredericksen (Menlo Park, Calif.) kill. Stevens responded with a 5-1 run, taking a 16-12 edge on back-to-back PremDas aces.

Hoping to keep pace, the Brewers fought to within two at 19-17 following a Ducks' error, but a Modestow kill led to three-straight Stevens points that made it 22-17. Vassar would get as close as three in the final minutes, thanks to a Patrick Donohue (East Petersburg, Pa.) spike, but a PremDas kill and Brewers' service error gave Stevens the 25-21 third-set victory.

In addition to Modestow and PremDas' nine kills, Evans finished with a .500 attack percentage, seven kills and seven digs, while Landis added six kills, hitting .333. Karl tallied five kills and four blocks in the win, while Grobeis finished with 36 assists.

Fredericksen led Vassar with 13 kills and four digs, while Donohue and freshman hitter Joe Pyne (Los Angeles, Calif.) each added four kills. Sophomore setter John Konow (Chicago, Ill.) and junior Clifford Quinn (Hamburg, N.Y.) combined for 23 assists, while sophomore Christian La Du (Westhampton, N.Y.) collected 11 digs.

Stevens, which held a 13-3 block advantage, finished with a .354 team hitting percentage, including a match-best .520 clip in the second set, while Vassar hit just .117 for the match, including a .000 attack rate in the second.

The Ducks return to action on Saturday, February 19 at UVC rival SUNY Institute of Technology.
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