Despite Landis And Hannum's Best Efforts, No. 9 Men's Volleyball Falls To Ramapo, 3-1

3/9/2011 8:15:00 PM

MAHWAH, N.J. (March 9, 2011) – Senior opposite hitter Jonathan Landis and sophomore Tom Hannum each tallied a team-high 12 kills, but the Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team, ranked ninth in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division III coaches poll, suffered a tough 3-1 (25-22, 25-23, 20-25, 25-22) loss to Ramapo College in Mahwah, N.J. With the loss, the Ducks dropped to14-8 overall on the season, while the Roadrunners improved to 14-9 on the year.

Holding Stevens to a .231 attack percentage in a 25-22 opening set victory, Ramapo notched a match-best .379 hitting percentage in the second set en route to a hard-fought 25-23 win. Hoping to stay alive, Stevens tallied a .323 attack percentage in the third, while holding the Roadrunners to a .111 clip, in a 25-20 triumph. Ramapo responded by limiting the Ducks to a .152 hitting percentage in the fourth and final set, closing out the match with a 25-22 win.

Landis and Hannum finished with 12 kills apiece, with the duo also combining for 13 digs and four blocks. Senior Timothy Karl had six kills and five blocks in the loss, while fellow senior SteFan PremDas tallied six kills, three assists and a pair of blocks.

Freshman David Evans recorded eight kills and nine assists, hitting a team-best .350, while senior co-captain Brandt Grobeis – who recently became just the second setter in school history to surpass the 4,000-assist plateau – dished out 39 helpers. Senior Aaron Ostrovsky (Simi Valley, Calif.) collected a team-high eight digs.

Three Roadrunners finished with double-digit kills led by freshman outside hitter Jeff Jones (Manahawkin, N.J.) with 16. Junior outside hitter Paul Konopacki (Monroe Twp., N.J.) and senior Andrew Brown (Montclair, N.J.) finished with 13 and 12 kills, respectively, while also combining for eight digs and three blocks. Freshman setter Andrew Balint (East Brunswick, N.J.) chipped in with a match-high 46 assists, while senior libero Kevin McNerney (Bayonne, N.J.) had a match-best 13 digs.

Stevens will look to break back into the win column on Friday, March 11 when it plays host to Rutgers-Newark.
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