NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (April 9, 2016) – After dropping the first set, the No. 4 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team won the next three against No. 8 Vassar College to advance to the United Volleyball Conference Championship game Sunday.
The Ducks moved to 28-5 on the season, and will take on No. 1 SUNY-New Paltz in the UVC title game at 2 p.m. tomorrow with the winner getting the UVC automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. In the only meeting between the two teams this season, New Paltz won a five-set thriller in the opening weekend of conference play.
Vassar took set one, hitting .324 with only four attack errors while Stevens committed eight attack errors. With the second set tied at five, freshman
Jacob Stillman reeled off six straight points, forcing the Brewers into a timeout. Vassar would get no closer than six, and a kill by senior
Chris Vaughan evened the match at one.
A Brewer attack error put Stevens up 7-2 in the third set, but Vassar answered with three straight markers. Junior
Gabe Shankweiler broke the frame open with five straight from the service line, the big blow a triple-block by Vaughan, sophomore
Thomas Burrell and junior
Scott Russell. After Vassar got within 22-19, Burrell and senior
Tim Ferriter slammed home back-to-back kills. An attack error handed Stevens the final point, and put Stevens up two sets to one.
The Ducks never trailed in the final set, and used a pair of 3-0 spurts to expand the lead to six at 16-10. Vassar got to 16-12, but four straight from Shankweiler, including an ace put the finish within striking distance. A double-block by Ferriter and junior
Jordan Stuart brought up match point, but Vassar notched two more points. Ferriter ended the comeback hopes by slamming home the match-clinching kill.
Ferriter, Vaughan and Shanweiler all had double-doubles, with Ferriter posting a match-high 18 kills. Vaughan led the way with 13 digs, while Russell handed out 47 assists.
Reno Kriz led Vassar with 11 kills while Trey Cimorelli had eight digs and four assists.
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