HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 4, 2015) – The No. 1 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team knocked off No. 5 Kean University and the College of Staten Island in straight sets on Saturday.
 
No. 1 Stevens 3, No. 5 Kean (25-20, 25-19, 25-13)
 
The Ducks (25-4) started the first set off on fire with junior Tim Ferriter recording three kills and seniors Ryan Seifert and Daniel Smith recording kills, forcing the Cougars (27-4) into using their first timeout. The teams swapped the next five points before Seifert recorded a kill and sophomore Jordan Stuart had a big solo block. The visitors tallied five of the next seven with kills coming from seniors Ed Jedziniak and Bez Arslani and a pair of double blocks anchored by junior Tommy Rosario. Seifert and Ferriter helped boost the lead back to five with each recording kills from junior John Eddins. Once again the two in-state rivals traded the next five points before the Ducks grabbed their biggest lead of the match, eight points, after two kills from senior David Evans and Smith. Rosario recorded back-to-back kills to trim the deficit to five, but Stevens was able to close out the opening period behind a kill from Evans.
 
Kean opened the first set with an 8-4 run, taking advantage of several service miscues. The Ducks used a 7-2 run mid-set to take a 13-11 lead with Seifert providing a pair of kills and a service ace. Stevens was able to keep the Cougars from taking the lead with both sides recording a service error and Kean receiving two kills from senior Kyle Farley. The Ducks pulled away with a 6-1 run once again thanks to the hitting prowess of Seifert and a triple-block from Eddins, Stuart and Ferriter. After the Cougars recorded a side-out, Seifert ended the second set with a kill from Eddins.
 
The Ducks notched five of the first six points in the third stanza with four different players recording kills. The Cougars battled back and used a Jedziniak kill coupled with a double-block from Rosario and freshman Jacob Kauffman which cut the deficit down to three. Stevens opened an eight lead up after two kills and a solo block from junior Chris Vaughan and a service ace from senior Kevin Aeckerle. Rosario added another kill to trim the lead to eight, but it was as close as the Cougars would come, as a pivotal 6-1 run closed out the match, capped off by back-to-back kills by Smith.
 
The Ducks outhit Kean .487-.207, with Smith going a perfect eight for eight and Vaughan going six for nine with no errors. Seifert finished with a team high 14 kills and seven digs while Ferriter filled the stat sheet with nine kills, four digs and three blocks. Aeckerle dished out 22 assists while chipping in three digs.
 
Arslani had 10 kills and Farley had eight while senior Ron Dunn handed out 30 assists. Stevens limited the Cougars to only 16 digs throughout the entire contest while holding Kean, who came in fourth nationally in aces per set, to none.
 
No. 1 Stevens 3, College of Staten Island 0 (25-5, 25-11, 25-9)
 
The first set was completely dominated by Ducks, as they started out with the lead and never relinquished it while holding the Dolphins (6-22) to a -.562 hitting percentage. Evans served six straight points with senior Ryan Brandow and Seifert recording a block and a kill each. After a side-out, Brandow served four points a row including two service aces. CSI recorded their only kill of set one thanks to sophomore Brian Sheydvasser. The tandem of Vaughan and Aeckerle combined score ten of the final eleven points of the first period, with Seifert setting the set with a solo block.
 
The Dolphins tied the second at two all with junior Phillip Szumanski serving up an ace. Vaughan then served up five points in a row taking advantage of a trio of attack errors and a kill from senior Dylan Schlosser. A kill from freshman Song Shin Low brought CSI back within six, but used multi-point runs to stretch their lead. An ace by Vaughan gave the Ducks their biggest lead of set two at 14 points, but junior Justin Edwardsen served up an ace and used an attack error to claw closer, but two unforced errors by the visitors gave the Ducks the set two victory.
 
Set three started off with the Ducks getting a side-out off a kill from sophomore Ian Bennett and then Evans served up two aces sandwiched between two attack errors. Kills from Low and Brandon Ng kept the Dolphins competitive, but the relentless attacking of Stevens proved too much for CSI to overcome. Schlosser and Brandow each had a pair of kills in the match-ending 7-3 run.
 
The Ducks defense held the Dolphins to only eight kills against 24 errors. Schlosser led the way with 10 kills in 12 attempts while Brandow had five in six attempts. Aeckerle handed out 24 helpers and the team as a unit only committed eight attack errors.
 
Low had four of the eight kills for CSI, while Szumanski had seven assists.
 
The Ducks will host the United Volleyball Conference tournament beginning Friday, earning a first round bye and await the winner of Elmira and NYU next Saturday at 2 p.m.
 

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