HOBOKEN, N.J. (October 14, 2017)  – Sophomore Casey King collected 31 kills over two matches and sophomore setter handed out 76 assists to lead the Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball to victories over Montclair State University and Union College on the second day of play at the 2017 Stevens Invitational.

In the opener, King matched her career high with 19 kills and Greco totaled a remarkable 53 assists as the Ducks bested the Red Hawks 3-1 (25-18, 25-15, 24-26, 25-11). The 53 helpers marked a new career high for the Thornwood, New York native.

In game two, Stevens notched 12 assists in sweeping Union (25-19, 25-11, 25-17). The victories pushed the team's record to 20-6; the third straight season with 20 or more wins.

Sarah Gonczlik recorded nine kills and Lily Scanzillo notched 19 digs for Montclair State, while Gillian Gore had 12 kills to pace Union.

Volleys and Points (Montclair State)

• Back-and-forth play dictated the early portion of the opening set, with the teams alternating the first six points.
• Sophomore Sara Hain converted a Greco set to pull Stevens in front, sparking a stretch that saw the Ducks tally five of a possible six points to take a 9-4 lead. 
• After King pinned down a Greco set, the Ducks went on their second extended run of the frame, totaling seven straight points to grab a commanding 16-5 lead.
• Montclair State would pull within five, but timely hitting from the outside kept Stevens comfortably ahead. King would put down a Greco set to close out the frame.
• The second set began in a similar manner, with the teams alternating the first six points.
• Montclair State went on the first extended run of the frame, scoring four straight points to grab a 7-3 lead.
• Senior Emily Singleton ended the Red Hawk run, pinning down a Greco set, which led to a 10-1 run by the Ducks to seize control of the set.
• Singleton sparked a second run later in the frame to push the Stevens lead to 10 (21-11).
• The guests would pull within seven points, but consecutive MSU attack errors and a Taleen Mitchell kill closed the frame.
• Montclair State was able to earn its only point of the match in the third frame.
• The teams played close throughout the set, with neither team holding more than a five-point edge.
• With the teams deadlocked at 19, three straight kills (one by Hain and consecutive putdowns by King) opened a 22-19 lead for Stevens.
• Montclair rallied, ultimately tying the frame at 24, before securing the next two points to with the set.
• Not looking to play a fifth set, the Ducks jumped ahead from the opening serve. King set down a Greco feed to open the scoring and Stevens pushed its lead to three after an MSU attack error and a block by Shelby Stewart and Singleton.
• The match-deciding stretch came with Stevens ahead 6-3.A blocking error by MSU's Jillian Wilson returned the serve to the Ducks and Stevens would go on to score five of the next six points.
• MSU would close to within seven points, but a sustained attack with freshman Jillian Roumbanis at the serve led to six straight points, closing out the match.

Volleys and Points (Union)

• The teams traded points to open the match, alternating the first 21 points of the match. 
• Union's Stephanie Libonati scored on three attacks to give Union an 11-10 lead.
• Stevens' outside hitters then took the set over, with King and Mitchell combining for five kills, leading to a 17-11 lead for the Ducks. 
• Union would inch back into the set, pulling to within four at 23-19, but a King kill returned the set to Stevens and a block by King and Stewart ended the frame.
• The Stevens serve was the focal point of the second set as the Ducks used a strong serve-receive game to win the frame.
• After Union secured the opening point, a King kill sparked a five-point run that saw Stevens take control of the set.
• Junior Emily Piekarski fired three aces during a stretch that saw the hosts grow their lead to 10 at 12-2.
• Union would briefly pull within eight, but the strong serving game continued as King recorded back-to-back aces to end the frame.
• As was the case in second, Union earned the first point of the final set, before seeing Stevens respond with three straight points. 
• Union pulled off six straight points for its largest run of the match.
• Stevens slowly chipped away at the deficit, tying the set, and ultimately pulling ahead with a 10-point run, sparked by consecutive kills from Stewart and King. 
• A Gore kill pulled Union to within seven, but a successful Stevens attack concluded play.

Match Point (Montclair State)

• Consecutive kills by Taleen Mitchell closed out the contest.

Match Point (Union)

• Shelby Stewart's second kill of the set closed out the match.

Inside the Numbers (Montclair State)

• Stevens hit a blistering .406 in the opening set and .424 in the final set to bookend a strong day at the attack. The Ducks hit .310 during the match and held Montclair State to .076.
• Sara Hain led all players with five blocks. As a team, Stevens held an 8-4 edge.
• Behind four by Casey King, Stevens held a 9-4 advantage in aces.
• Stevens made only three errors in the first set and two in the final one.
• Three different players recorded double-digit digs: Sydni Horner (22), Taleen Mitchell (16) and Jillian Roumbanis (12). Mitchell added 12 kills for her seventh double-double of the season.

Inside the Numbers (Union)

• Stevens forced Union into the same number of kills and attack errors, leading to a .000 hit percentage for the Dutch. Stevens hit .188, boosted by a .353 mark in the second set.
• The Ducks held a 6-0 margin in blocks and tallied a 12-1 edge in aces.
• Despite winning the second set 25-11, the Ducks only registered seven kills. 8-10 The Ducks recorded eight aces in the frame and were the benefit of 10 Union errors to account for the team's points..
• Horner recorded 17 digs to lead Stevens. 

Coach Speak

• "Montclair and Union both pushed us at various times throughout the day. We talked a lot about keeping the pressure on and I think we did just that."
• "Our serving was incredible, especially against Union, and our passing kept getting better throughout the day."

Unsung Hero

• "Julie Greco continues to make smart decisions and setting up opportunities for all of our hitters. Having a balanced offense going into the playoffs is going to be key and Julie is getting that done."

Up Next

• The Ducks head to Oneonta, New York for the Hartwick College Tri-match, with matches against the hosting Hawks and St. John Fisher College. 
• A victory over the Cardinals would earn Stevens the Empire 8 Conference regular season title and the number one overall seed in the conference championship.

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