NCAA Bracket

HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 18, 2014) – The nationally ranked No. 5 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team travels to No. 15 Baruch College in New York City on Saturday night for the first round of the NCAA Division III Championship in the ARC Arena. Match time is slated for 6:30 p.m. and a fan bus will depart Stevens at 5 p.m.

Stevens (21-9) earned an at-large bid into this year's NCAA Championship as the seventh seed in the ten-team tournament. The Ducks reached the semifinals of the United Volleyball Conference Championship on April 12-13 where they fell to eventual conference champions, SUNY New Paltz.

Baruch (27-10) found its way into the tournament after winnings its sixth-straight CUNYAC Championship.

The cross-river rivals squared off earlier this season on March 23 in Hoboken, where Stevens came away with a 3-1 victory (25-15, 17-25, 25-16, 25-15).

Since 2005, the Ducks have won nine of 12 matches against Baruch. The Bearcats claimed both meetings last spring, including once in the NCAA tournament.

Stevens ranks among the nation's elite in seven team categories which are compiled throughout all 66 Division III schools. The Ducks are third nationally in assists per set at 12.06, fourth in blocks per set with 2.57 and kills per set at 12.70. They hold the eighth spot in digs per set at 10.92 and hit at a .264 clip which is ninth in the country. With a .700 winning percentage, Stevens slides into 14th overall.

Individually, six Ducks appear within the top 37 of 100 on 10 different occasions.

Sophomore Alexander Carpenter (Delaware, Ohio) ranks the highest at fourth in blocks per set with 1.16. Junior Daniel Smith (Tucson, Ariz.) sits fifth overall in hitting percentage at .420, while fellow junior Kevin Aeckerle (Henrietta, N.Y.) hands out the sixth-most assists with 10.13 per set.

Smith also shows up in blocks per set at 14th with 1.06.

Sophomore Chris Vaughan (Medford, N.Y.) ranks 22nd, 29th and 33rd, in hitting percentage, kills per set and points per set, respectively. Vaughan's .332 hitting percentage is 22nd, while his 3.51 kills per set is 29th and 4.04 points per set is 33rd.

Junior Dylan Schlosser (Emmaus, Pa.) posts 2.43 digs per set to rank 28th nationally, while freshman Gabe Shankweiler (Allentown, Pa.) is 34th in kills per set at 3.41 and 37th in points per set at 3.90.

Baruch, as a team, is seventh nationally in hitting percentage (.281), ninth in aces per set (1.75), 10th in winning percentage and 17th in kills per set (11.62). The Bearcats will be led into Saturday's showdown by Jack McKee, who averages 4.58 points per set (10th in DIII) and 3.72 kills per set (14th). Scott Standring dishes out 9.24 assists per set to rank 18th and is ninth overall in aces per set.

Tickets for general admission are $6 and $4 for students with identification. Those in the area can catch the fan bus on campus, which will be located by Jonas Hall.

Live stats for Saturday's match will be available and in-match tweets can be followed on Twitter @StevensDucks.

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