SHEBOYGAN, Wis. (February 22, 2015) – The No. 1 ranked Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team defeated Loras College and Lakeland College on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Ducks knocked off Loras 25-13, 25-19, 25-19, and Lakeland 25-23, 25-22, 25-10. Stevens improves to 12-4 on the season, Loras is now 2-10 and Lakeland falls to 9-7.
 
No. 1 Stevens 3, Loras College 0
Stevens scored the first five points of set one with kills from junior outside hitter Thomas Wright, senior outside hitter David Evans and senior middle Ryan Brandow.  The Hawks were able to cut the lead down to 12-9, but an Evans kill started a 3-0 rally which was capped off by two kills from junior Chris Vaughan. A kill by junior middle Alexander Carpenter put the Ducks up 18-13 and they finished the set on an 8-0 run with back-to-back kills by junior setter John Eddins.
 
In set two, the teams traded points until sophomore middle Jordan Stuart notched a kill to put the Ducks up 11-10, and Stuart added an ace to help Stevens score eight of the next eleven points. The Hawks cut the lead down to 18-16, but Evans ended a brief 3-0 run with a tally. Stevens went on a 5-0 spurt of its own with Evans contributing an ace and junior outside hitter Derrick Sokol recorded two kills. A Hawks service error ended the set and gave the Ducks a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Stevens took an 11-7 lead in set three by using a variety of different attackers. Freshman middle Thomas Burrell added a kill, while sophomore Ian Bennett and Vaughan each had multiple kills in the opening portion. Sokol and Bennett each contributed kills during a mini 3-0 run stretching the lead to 15-9 and forcing Loras into a timeout. The Hawks did not go down quietly as they hung around with a pair of kills from Jimmy Combs, but the Ducks were able to hold off the rally with a Burrell kill and a Loras ball-handling error to end third set.
 
The Ducks outhit Loras .344-.057, holding the Hawks to a -.065 hitting percentage in the first set. As a team, Stevens had 45 kills including eight by Vaughan and seven from Evans. Freshman libero Cagan Friend finished with 11 digs, and senior setter Kevin Aeckerle had eight digs to go with 20 assists.
 
TJ Esporas had 11 kills for Loras, while Blair Anderson finished with 10 digs.
 
No. 1 Stevens 3, Lakeland 0
After splitting the first six points of the first set, Lakeland jumped ahead 5-3 on a kill by senior Alec Redlich, and Stevens answered back on a kill from junior outside hitter Tim Ferriter. A kill by senior outside hitter Ryan Seifert put the Ducks ahead 9-8, but Lakeland went on a 3-0 run to take an 11-9 advantage. Stevens battled back behind a kill from junior middle Etan Bennett and a double-block by Bennett and Seifert to knot the set at 21 each. After kills from Bennett, Ferriter and Eddins, the Ducks were able to close out the first period.
 
Stevens dropped the first two points in set two before a kill from Seifert ended the brief rally. A double-block by senior Daniel Smith and Vaughan followed by kills from Smith and Ferriter gave the Ducks a 10-8 lead. The Muskies rallied to score five of six points during a mid-set rally, tying things at 19 all. Kills by Seifert and Vaughan put Stevens back on top 22-19, and they were able to close out the second stanza off another Eddins kill and a block by Stuart and Vaughan.
 
Set three saw the Ducks storm out to an 8-0 lead behind the serve of Aeckerle and back-to-back double blocks by Stuart and Seifert. Stuart went on a 6-0 run himself, stretching the lead to 15-2. Etan Bennett and Ferriter contributed to the run with a pair of tandem blocks. The Muskies were unable to find a way to get their attacking in a rhythm in the third set, hitting -.179 with 12 attack errors.
 
The Ducks hit .330 as a team over the three sets, including .611 in the final set with no attack errors. The Muskies hit .114 for the match.

Seifert led the way with 14 kills and three blocks, while Aeckerle racked up 22 assists and senior libero Dylan Schlosser had 10 digs. Redlich led the way for Lakeland with nine kills and nine digs and senior setter Jordan Smith had 26 assists.
 
The Ducks return to action on Saturday taking on Rutgers-Newark and No. 10 Baruch College beginning at 10 a.m.
 
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