Men's Volleyball Falls To Division I Sacred Heart On Senior Day

3/24/2011 12:00:00 AM

HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 24, 2011) – Senior outside hitter Jonathan Landis finished with a match-high 16 kills and a team-best 10 digs, but the Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team fell to Division I Sacred Heart University, 3-1 (25-17, 25-17, 27-29, 25-17), on Senior Day at Canavan Arena in Hoboken, N.J. With the loss, the Ducks fell to 15-10 overall on the year, while the Pioneers evened their season slate to 8-8.

Fellow senior SteFan PremDas added 12 kills and seven digs, while freshman Ryan Seifert added 11 kills. Sophomore Jake Modestow finished with nine kills and eight blocks, while senior setter and co-captain Brandt Grobeis tallied 47 assists and four digs.

Freshman outside hitter Bradley Borsay (Richmond, R.I.) notched 15 kills to pace the Pioneers attack, while senior Roger Parent (Burlington, Conn.) hit .480 with 14 kills and five blocks. Freshman Enzo Mackenzie (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and junior middle Mike Komlanc (St. Croix, Virgin Islands) added nine and seven kills, respectively, while senior setter Tim Sadowski (Salem, N.H.) dished out 38 assists. Fellow senior Craig Harvey (Beverly, Mass.) collected a match-high 14 digs in the win.

With the first set knotted at six in the early going, Sacred Heart mounted a 5-0 run, taking an 11-6 edge on consecutive service aces to force a Stevens timeout. Coming out of the break, PremDas hammered home a kill to momentarily spell the Pioneers' surge.

Settling in, the Ducks battled back to within one at 12-11 on a Grobeis ace and a PremDas block, but a 4-1 Sacred Heart spurt extended the visitor's margin to four. Seifert later notched a spike to trim the Stevens deficit to 18-15, but two-straight Pioneer points upped the lead to five. After a Ducks' timeout at 22-17, SHU netted the set's final three points to earn a 25-17 victory.

Knotted at three in the second, Seifert tallied the first of back-to-back Stevens points to take a two-point lead. The Pioneers responded by scoring the frame's next three tallies, tying it on an ace before Sadowski put away a kill to put Sacred Heart back on top.

Tied at eight, the Pioneers reeled off seven unanswered points to take a 15-8 advantage. Landis would end the Ducks' dry-spell with a kill, but three-straight SHU points increased the Stevens deficit to nine. The Ducks later pulled within seven at 24-17, but an attack error on the ensuing play gave Sacred Heart the set and a 2-0 match lead.

Hoping to stay alive while down 4-3 in the third, Stevens rattled off three-straight points, taking a 6-4 edge on a PremDas ace, but the Pioneers responded with a 3-0 run of their own, re-taking the lead. Continuing to go on the offensive, the Ducks mounted a 7-3 run to go back up 13-10 before SHU slowly battled back to 15-15.

Still deadlocked at 19, Modestow found a hole in the Sacred Heart defense, slamming home a kill to put the Ducks back up one, but Borsay answered with spike of his own to again tie the game. Later ahead 24-23 after a Seifert kill, Stevens surrendered a spike to freshman middle Patrick Sibley (Valley Center, Calif.) preventing the Ducks from taking advantage of a set point opportunity.

Trying to put Stevens away, Komlanc drilled a kill to give SHU a slim 25-24 lead, while forcing a Stevens stoppage. Landis responded by tallying consecutive spikes coming out of the break, putting the Ducks back on top, while this time forcing SHU to call timeout.

With the set still tied at 27 after a Borsay kill kept the Pioneers alive, Landis dropped in another kill before PremDas sealed Stevens' hard-fought set win with a cross-court spike.

Looking to bounce back, Sacred Heart mounted a 4-0 run in the early going of the fourth, taking a 7-3 lead. Stevens then netted the frame's next two scores, but consecutive SHU points once again upped the margin to four. With the Pioneers slowly extending their margin to 12-6, Landis snuck a kill inside the line to pull the Ducks within five.

Sibley later upped the Sacred Heart cushion to seven at 18-11, before Stevens rallied with a 5-2 spurt, cutting it to four on a Modestow and PremDas block. Hoping to put it away, SHU answered with a 5-1 run to close out the set, sealing their eighth victory of the season.

Stevens opens the inaugural United Volleyball Conference championships on Saturday, March 26 against Elmira College.
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