Landis, Modestow Help No. 11 Men's Volleyball To 3-1 Win Over Division I NJIT

3/22/2011 12:00:00 AM

HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 22, 2011) – Senior outside hitter Jonathan Landis and sophomore Jake Modestow combined for 25 kills, nine blocks, and six digs, as the Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team earned a hard-fought 3-1 (25-19, 25-19, 18-25, 25-15) victory over Division I New Jersey Institute of Technology at Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. With the win, the Ducks improved to 15-9 overall on the season, while the Highlanders fell to 5-16 on the year.

Landis finished with 15 kills, six digs and two blocks to lead Stevens, hitting .355, while Modestow notched 10 kills on 15 swings (.600), adding seven blocks. Freshman Ryan Seifert tallied nine kills and four blocks in the win, while seniors SteFan PremDas and Timothy Karl combined for 15 kills, 10 blocks, and seven digs. Fellow senior Brandt Grobeis finished with 41 assists, eight digs and six blocks.

Junior Adam Gustafson (Monee, Ill.) paced NJIT with 12 kills and 10 digs, while sophomores Andrew Stoyanow (Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Kevin Van Oss (Dayton, Ohio) each added seven spikes. Sophomore libero Brady Smith (Kurtistown, Hawaii) and Gustafson had 12 and 10 digs, respectively, while fellow second-year Matthew Lui (Aiea, Hawaii) dished out 34 helpers.

With the Ducks down 5-2 in the first set after consecutive NJIT service aces, Seifert hammered home a kill to trim the margin to two. PremDas would later knot things up at five before a Highlander error gave Stevens a one-point edge. With the frame tied at 13, Modestow found a crease in the NJIT defense, kick-starting a 3-1 Ducks run capped off by a PremDas kill and service ace.

Coming out of an NJIT timeout, Stevens pushed the lead to 21-17 on a Modestow spike, forcing another Highlander stoppage. Landis later inched the Ducks closer to a first set victory with a kill that made it 23-18, before Seifert put one away, clinching the frame to give Stevens a 25-19 victory and a 1-0 match advantage.

Trailing 4-1 in the second after a Landis kill, NJIT notched consecutive points to pull within one, but PremDas tipped one over the Highlander frontline to jumpstart a quick 3-0 spurt capped off by a Modestow kill and an NJIT error. Minutes later, Seifert unleashed a cross-court spike to increase the margin to four, before a Grobeis block made it 10-5 Stevens.

Hoping to respond, NJIT mounted a 4-1 run to cut their deficit to two, but Karl answered with a kill, upping the Stevens cushion to three, while kick-starting a 5-1 Ducks rally that resulted in a 16-10 edge and an NJIT timeout. Stevens then notched two of the first three points coming out of the break to go up 18-11 before two-straight Highlander points pulled the visitors back within five.

A surging NJIT squad would continue to battle, coming within two at 21-19, but Stevens held steady, netting the set's final four points to win the second by an identical 25-19 margin.

Looking to stay alive, the Highlanders jumped out to an early three-point lead, before a Seifert kill coupled with a PremDas ace quickly made it 5-4. NJIT responded by mounting a 6-2 run, taking an 11-6 advantage, while forcing a Stevens stoppage.

The Highlanders later extended the lead to 12-6 before a Landis kill momentarily stemmed the NJIT tide. Back within three at 15-12 after a Karl spike and a Highlander error, Stevens surrendered three-straight points, as the visitors seized control of the third en route to a 25-18 triumph.

Knotted at two in the fourth, the Ducks strung together back-to-back points before a Landis ace and PremDas kill pushed the lead to 6-2. With NJIT back within two, Stevens answered with a 4-0 rally, taking a commanding 13-7 set lead.

A Seifert block would later make it 17-10, before a quick Highlander spurt trimmed the margin to 19-15. Trying to put the game away, Landis helped Stevens tally consecutive points as the Ducks closed out the frame on a 6-0 run to secure a 25-15 triumph and 3-1 match victory.

Stevens hit a gaudy .714 in the first set before cooling down in the second (.115) and third (.057) frames. The Ducks rebounded in the fourth with a .433 hitting percentage, tallying 14 kills on 30 attempts. Stevens, which held a decisive 27-6 edge in blocks, will face its third-consecutive Division I opponent on Thursday, March 24, when it plays host to Sacred Heart University on Senior Day.
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