HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 1, 2015) – Junior Chris Vaughan and senior David Evans each had 11 kills to lead the No. 1 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team past No. 9 New York University in straight sets on Wednesday.
 
The Ducks, now 23-4 took the sets 25-14, 25-23, 25-23 over the Violets who are now 15-9
 
NYU jumped out to a 6-5 lead in the opening set, including a 3-0 highlighted with a kill from sophomore Sean Leahy. After a kill from sophomore Will Kozloski knotted the set at eight, Stevens used a 4-1 run behind a kill and a service ace from Evans. The Ducks used a 3-0 run thanks to two Violets attack errors to take a five point and a kill from Evans gave them a 17-12 advantage. The Ducks were able to close out the opening period on 8-1 run, thanks to four attack errors, two Evans kills and a kill from fellow senior Daniel Smith.
 
The second stanza started off well for NYU, notching four of the first five points after a pair of blocks by Leahy and junior Phil Bueno with sophomore Chase Klein pitching in make it a triple block on the second attempt. The Ducks answered back with a 3-0 thanks to the serving prowess of Vaughan and a pair of errors. After the score was tied at nine, the teams traded the next eight points before Stevens was able to tally the next two points to go up 15-12 thanks to a kill from Evans. A Smith kill put the hosts up 17-15, but NYU went on a 7-1 run behind two blocks and two kills from junior Nick Benson to go ahead 21-18. Four kills from Vaughan plus an ace helped Stevens close out the set on 7-1 run.
 
The guests used kills from Bueno and Benson coupled with a pair of unforced errors to go ahead 5-1 in the third stanza. NYU extended their lead to 10-6 after a kill from Kozloski but the Ducks went ahead thanks to an 8-1 run thanks to a pair of kills from sophomore Jordan Stuart and a thunderous solo block by senior Ryan Seifert. A 4-1 run by the Violets knotted the set at 19 but Stevens received kills from Smith, Stuart and Vaughan to jump ahead 23-20. NYU scored the next two points to trim the deficit to one, but Seifert pounded home a kill to bring up match point. The Violets got a side-out but an attack error on the next point gave the victory to Stevens and sent the crowd home happy.
 
Stevens held a .319-.170 hitting advantage including a .360-.027 edge in set one while forcing the Violets to nine attack errors in the opening frame. Seifert also chipped in three service aces and seven digs to go with his 11 kills, while senior Kevin Aeckerle handed out 20 assists.
 
Benson finished with 12 kills and five digs while sophomore Patrick Merrick dished out 23 assists.
 
The Ducks are back in action Saturday when they host No. 5 Kean and the College of Staten Island beginning at 11 a.m.

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