HOBOKEN, N.J. (October 31, 2014) – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team played a pair of four-set matches in the opening day of the NYS Regional Challenge in Canavan Arena and came away with a 1-1 record.
Stevens (28-5) took down Rowan to start the afternoon, but fell to No. 15 Clarkson University in the final match of the evening to snap a nine-match winning streak.
Stevens 3, Rowan 1 The Ducks cruised in their three set victories, 25-14, 25-11, 25-16, but stumbled in the second set, 25-23, which prevented the sweep to open the NYS Regional Challenge.
Stevens held a significant advantage in hitting percentage, .325 to .073, and tallied eight total blocks to just one for Rowan.
The first set was the only one for Stevens in which the team did not reach double-digit kills. The Ducks still did, however, hit .296 in the set. Stevens put together its best game of the match in the second set with 16 kills and just three errors in 24 attempts for a .542 clip. In the third set, the Ducks slid down to a .179 percentage, but responded with .361 in the clincher.
Sophomore
Mary Tobin (Boothwyn, Pa.) paced the match with 16 kills (.306 percentage) and 11 digs with three service aces, while classmate
Christina Sciarra (Montclair, N.J.) swung at a .355 clip with 13 kills on 31 tries, to go along with five digs and three blocks.
Senior
Katie Hall (Midlothian, Va.) was the third Ducks to reach double-digit kills with 11 and swung for an impressive .500 percentage. Hall also added four digs and four total blocks.
Fellow senior
Ashley Castillo (Cresskill, N.J.) handed out a match-best 40 assists with five digs, while freshman
Sydni Horner (Columbia, Md.) contributed 22 digs to lead all players and handed out five assists.
Freshman
Brianna Evans (Spokane, Wash.) finished the match with nine kills, nine digs, two aces and two blocks. Junior
Annemarie Thomas (Durham, N.C.) put down three of her six kill attempts and chipped in two block assists.
No. 15 Clarkson 3, Stevens 1The Ducks seemed destined to pull off the upset after winning the first set, 25-22, but Clarkson took control of the match with a 25-15 set two win. The Golden Knights then closed out the showdown with 25-21 and 25-18 wins in the final two sets.
Stevens was outhit in the match by .102 (.288 to .186) and were on the wrong end of a 15-to-4 difference in service aces.
Tobin was tops again on the team with 13 kills to go along with 14 digs. Evans propelled Stevens in hitting percentage at .348 with 10 kills on 23 attempts. She also had three blocks.
Castillo handed out 30 assists with six digs, while Horner notched 16 digs.
Sciarra added seven kills and two aces.
Stevens had no answer for Clarkson's Aishvina Arasu who put down 21 kills on 40 attempts with just three errors. Victoria Kirkemo also put together a solid match with 12 kills and six service aces, while Adrienne Walker swung at a .550 clip with 13 kills on 20 tries.
The Ducks play two more matches tomorrow at 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. Stevens starts with the University of Rochester and then battles Montclair State University.
