Men's Volleyball's Comeback Bid Falls Short Against Division I Rutgers-Newark

3/11/2011 12:00:00 AM

HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 11, 2011) – Senior opposite hitter Jonathan Landis hit .526 with a team-high 11 kills, but the Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 (25-16, 25-15, 23-25, 23-25, 15-12) match to Division I Rutgers-Newark at Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. Trailing 2-0 in sets, the resilient Ducks notched consecutive 25-23 victories in the third and fourth frames before dropping the tiebreak 15-12. With the loss, Stevens fell to 14-9 overall on the year, while the Scarlet Raiders improved to 13-4 on the season.

Down 4-0 early in the first set, sophomore Jake Modestow the Ducks on the board with the home team's first kill before a second-straight Stevens point trimmed the margin to two. Rutgers-Newark responded with six unanswered scores, taking a 10-2 advantage heading into the match's first timeout.

Hoping to keep pace, the Ducks battled back to within six on a Timothy Karl kill before consecutive Landis spikes coupled with a Scarlet Raiders' error made it 15-11.

Looking to rebuild their lead, Rutgers-Newark mounted a 5-2 run to take a seven-point advantage. Still up seven at 22-15, the Scarlet Raiders netted three of the set's final four points, taking a 1-0 match edge with a 25-16 victory.

Trailing 2-0 to start the second, the Scarlet Raiders tallied consecutive scores to pull even, but three-straight Stevens points, which included a SteFan PremDas kill, put the Ducks back on top by three. Rutgers-Newark responded by stringing together a 7-1 rally to take a 9-7 set lead. Continuing to build on their momentum, the Scarlet Raiders scored six of the frame's next eight points, pushing the advantage to 15-9.

Behind 21-12, PremDas put away another kill to bring Stevens within eight, before back-to-back Ryan Seifert aces made it 21-15. Rutgers-Newark responded by mounting a 4-0 down the stretch to take the second set, 25-15.

With the third set knotted at 10, Rutgers-Newark put together a quick 3-1 spurt before three-straight Scarlet Raiders errors gave Stevens a slim one-point edge. Still up one, PremDas found a crease in the Rutgers-Newark defense, sliding in his first service ace of the evening before Karl tipped it over the Scarlet Raider frontline to stake the Ducks to a three-point cushion.

Down 20-16 following a timeout, Rutgers-Newark scored three consecutive points to trim the deficit to one. Still clinging to a one-point lead at 23-22, Landis notched his sixth kill of the night as Stevens held off the surging Scarlet Raiders squad, earning a 25-23 third-set triumph.

Falling behind 5-2 in the fourth, PremDas spurred a 4-1 Ducks' run that tied the set at six. With both teams exchanging points over the next several minutes of action, Rutgers-Newark began to gain some traction, going up 15-13 on a Kenneth de Groh (Palos Heights, Ill.) kill.

Still down two at 19-17, PremDas recorded another kill before combining with Modestow on a block to deadlock the set. With the frame still tied at 23, Landis hammered home a cross-court spike to put Stevens back on top, before a Scarlet Raiders' attack error gave Stevens a 25-23 fourth set triumph.

With the fifth set tied at one early, PremDas notched a block on a would-be Rutgers-Newark kill to put Stevens ahead. The Scarlet Raiders responded by netting the set's next three points to take a 4-2 lead. Up 8-5 at the midway point, Rutgers-Newark committed three-straight errors that allowed Stevens to tie things up.

Trailing 10-9, Landis put away his tenth kill of the night before a Seifert spike put the Ducks back on top. Rutgers-Newark answered by recording three unanswered points, pulling ahead 13-11, while forcing a Stevens timeout, before closing out the match with a 15-12 win.

PremDas finished with 10 kills and four blocks, while Karl and Modestow combined for 16 kills and six blocks. Senior co-captain Brandt Grobeis dished out 42 assists in the win, while fellow senior Aaron Ostrovsky added a team-best five digs.

Three Scarlet Raiders finished with double-digit kills lead by Austin Pappas' (Trabuco Canyon, Calif.) 19. Junior outside hitter Marcin Midura (Linden, N.J.) and de Groh added 11 and 14 kills, respectively, with the duo also combining for six digs and five blocks. Senior setter Jeff Zornig (Coto de Caza, Calif.) collected 41 assists, while junior libero Zack Chambers (Oneida, N.Y.) finished with a match-high seven digs.

Stevens returns to action on March 22 against New Jersey Institute of Technology.
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