Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (September 7, 2013) – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team capped off a perfect weekend at the Vassar Invitational with victories over Massachusetts Institute of Technology and nationally ranked No. 24 SUNY Cortland. Stevens was the lone team to tally a 4-0 mark in the tournament and upped its overall record to 9-0 on the season.

Stevens' 9-0 streak to begin this season is the best start a Ducks team has had since the 2004 team ran off eight straight victories during that campaign.

Stevens 3, MIT 2

The Ducks dropped the first two sets against MIT, 23-25, 23-25, but responded to take the final three games, 25-20, 25-18, 15-11, and claim the morning match. Three Ducks tallied over 10 kills and 10 digs apiece in the victory, while the team as a whole posted 73 digs, 11 service aces and seven total blocks.

Freshman Christina Sciarra (Montclair, N.J.) led Stevens offensively with 17 kills en route to an all-tournament nod. Sciarra hit .343 in the match to go along with three block assists. Classmate Mary Tobin (Boothwyn, Pa.) was close behind with 16 kills and a .314 hitting clip. Tobin also registered 16 digs for her third double-double of the tournament.

Senior Samantha Gates (Wilmington, N.C.) was the catalyst for the offense once again with a season-high 53 assists. Gates chipped in four digs, three kills and a match-high-tying three service aces. For her efforts over the weekend, Gates was named the tournament's most valuable player with 170 total assists, 33 digs, 11 kills and seven aces.

On the defensive end, junior Kirsten Salmins (Wyckoff, N.J.) tallied a match-best and career-high 26 digs. Salmins eclipsed 20 digs for the third straight match and fifth time this season. She also handed out four assists. Sophomore Catie Shelton (Central Square, N.Y.) posted 15 digs with three aces.

Senior Mary Caulson (West Islip, N.Y.) contributed 12 kills and six digs, while junior Katie Hall (Midlothian, Va.) filled the stat sheet with six kills, four blocks, four digs and three aces. Sophomore Annemarie Thomas (Durham, N.C.) added five kills.

Stevens 3, Cortland 0

In the sweep over No. 24 Cortland, 25-21, 25-22, 25-21, Tobin was the lone player to earn double-digit kills with 10 for the eighth time this season. She also tallied nine digs. Gates assisted on 37 kills for a match-high to go along with five digs and two assists.

Caulson narrowly missed double-digits in kills with nine and picked up 12 digs. She also added three blocks to her credit, while Sciarra added to her day with eight more kills on 18 swings.

Salmins put 18 more digs to her weekend total of 85. Thomas recorded a strong effort with six kills and five blocks, while Hall picked up seven more kills and three aces. Shelton concluded the stellar weekend for Stevens with four digs and three aces.

Cortland, a perennial powerhouse in the northeast, has been beaten by Stevens six of the past eight meetings dating back to 2006.

The Ducks host their first home matches of the season on September 13 and 14 as part of the Ducks Classic in Canavan Arena. Stevens plays SUNY Geneseo on the 13th and then takes on FDU-Florham and Kean University on the 14th.