Box Score

HOBOKEN, N.J. (February 13, 2013) – The nationally ranked No. 5 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team came away with a five-set marathon match against United Volleyball Conference foe No. 8 SUNY New Paltz. With the win, Stevens improves to 8-3 overall and 5-0 in the UVC, while New Paltz falls to 9-2 and 3-2 in the conference.

In the back-and-forth match, 21-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-23, 15-11, the Ducks struggled in the first set from the service line with six errors and never led in the opening game. Stevens bounced back in set two and rolled to a 10-point victory to swing momentum temporarily.

Set three was similar to set one except the Ducks led up until a 19-19 tie. After a Ducks timeout, New Paltz took control of the set until the final point and won, 25-22. In the fourth set, neither team could record a block, which led to both squads hitting over .420. Set four witnessed 14 ties up to a 15-15 deadlock and then Stevens came away with the 25-23 win.

The Ducks proved to be the stronger team in the fifth and final set and held three separate five-point advantages at 8-3, 12-7 and 13-8. New Paltz tried to mount a late comeback and brought the game to 14-11 but that was not enough.

Junior Ryan Seifert (Chicopee, Mass.) posted a match-high 18 kills and a .343 hitting percentage for Stevens. Seifert also chipped in eight digs with two blocks. Fellow junior David Evans (Penfield, N.Y.) was close behind with 16 kills and six digs.

Sophomore Kevin Aeckerle (Henrietta, N.Y.) handed out 52 assists to lead all players en route to a double-double with 10 digs. Freshman Chris Vaughan (Medford, N.J.) paced the Ducks with 12 digs in the victory.

Seniors Jake Modestow (Hampden, Mass.) and Thomas Hannum (Libertyville, Ill.) each added eight kills and combined for 10 digs and seven blocks. Modestow hit an impressive .636 for a match-high, while Hannum hit .412.

Sophomore Etan Bennett (Rochester, N.Y.) registered a match-best five blocks and tallied seven kills with no errors in 15 attempts.

Although the Ducks hit .361 in the match, including .474, .455 in set four and .429 in set five, they also committed 19 service errors. New Paltz, on the other hand, recorded 21 service errors.

Stevens will be back in action for a tri-match on Saturday against Hunter College and Stevenson University beginning at 11 a.m. in Canavan Arena. The Ducks open up with Hunter and then square off against Stevenson at 3 p.m.

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