NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (April 10, 2016) – No. 4 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team fell to No. 1 SUNY-New Paltz in the United Volleyball Conference finals Sunday.
The Ducks dropped to 28-6 and will find out tomorrow morning if they secured an at large bid to the NCAA Men's Volleyball National Championship. The scores of the match were 25-14, 25-23, 25-20 all in favor of the Hawks, who moved to 30-2 and clinched the UVC automatic bid to the tournament.
With the first frame tied at two, the hosts would tally four of the next five, including a pair of solo blocks. A kill by senior
Chris Vaughan cut the deficit down to 12-8, but six of the next eight markers went in favor of New Paltz. The Hawks would notch the last three points of set one to take the lead.
Set two was tightly contested, as no side led by more than three points. Vaughan slammed home a kill to coclude a 5-1 spurt to go ahead 8-5 early on but the Hawks stormed back with four consecutive to go back in front 13-11. Sophomore
Thomas Burrell buried a kill from senior
John Eddins to even the frame at 16, but that would be the last time it was tied.
New Paltz took advantage of a pair of Duck errors to jump ahead 23-19, but Stevens roared back with three straight, including a huge double-block by junior
Jordan Stuart and senior
Tim Ferriter. A Jake Roessler kill brought up set point, but Vaughan countered, and the Hawks took a timeout. One point later however, the Hawks earned a kill and went up 2-0.
A Vaughan kill cut the New Paltz third set lead to 7-5, but Roessler served up four straight, including an ace to break the set open. The Ducks once again fought from behind to get within four, thanks to back-to-back kills from Ferriter and Stuart. Stevens staved off one match point, bur Roessler registered a kill to end the match.
Ferriter led the way with nine kills and 11 digs, while junior
Gabe Shankweiler had six kills and 10 digs in the setback. Ferriter and Vaughan were named to the All-Tournament team based on their weekend stats.
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