Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 HOBOKEN, N.J. (September 14, 2012) – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team splits its matches on the first day of the 2012 Ducks Classic at Canavan Arena on Friday evening. Stevens fell in five sets to Buffalo State College, but bounced back to top York College (Pa.) in four sets to pick up the Ducks' first victory of the season. Buffalo State and Swarthmore College finished the opening day with perfect 2-0 records.

Buffalo State 3, Stevens 2

In the five-set heartbreaker to Buffalo St., 25-20, 25-22, 17-25, 25-27, 26-24, senior opposite hitter Maggie Kowalska (Edison, N.J.) led all players with 23 kills and nearly recorded a triple-double with 15 digs and seven total blocks.

Junior outside hitter Mary Caulson (West Islip, N.Y.) registered a career-high 15 kills to go along with 12 digs, three blocks and two aces. Classmate and setter Samantha Gates (Wilmington, N.C.) handed out a match-high 56 assists and made nine digs. Gates also chipped in three blocks and three kills.

Sophomore middle hitter Katie Hall (Midlothian, Va.) hit at an impressive .458 clip with 13 kills in 24 attempts with two errors. Junior libero Hannah Gasper (Bourne, Mass.) tallied 15 digs and six assists, while senior middle hitter Jillian Barrett (Philadelphia, Pa.) added eight kills, four blocks and three digs in the loss.

On two separate occasions throughout the match, Stevens mounted comebacks to take the lead which resulted in the third and fourth set victories. In the third set, the Ducks trailed, 16-13, but then went on a 6-0 run to force a Bengals timeout. After the short break, Stevens closed out the match on a 6-1 run to claim the set, 25-17.

In the fourth set, the Ducks fell behind, 20-12, but fought back to tie the set and eventually went on to prevail, 27-25.

Stevens 3, York (Pa.) 1

In the four-set victory, 25-20, 25-16, 15-25, 25-16, Kowalska once again led Stevens with 14 kills, but Hall was the story of the match, contributing 13 kills with a .440 hitting percentage in 25 attempts. Kowalska also posted five service aces to go along with 10 digs and four total blocks. Hall chipped in four digs and two blocks.

Gates posted the most assists in the match with 38, and also registered 12 digs with four aces. Caulson picked up her second-straight double-digit kills mark with 11 and posted 10 digs in the victory.

Gasper added to her digs total with 11 in the nightcap, while Barrett recorded five kills and five blocks.

Sophomore libero Kirsten Salmins (Wyckoff, N.J.) stepped in to add seven digs.

The Ducks will be back on the court tomorrow morning and afternoon against FDU-Florham and Swarthmore. Stevens takes on FDU at 10 a.m., and then battles with Swarthmore at 2 p.m. to wrap up the weekend.