ONEONTA, N.Y. (October 21, 2017)  – Sophomore Casey King totaled 23 kills over two matches and classmate Shelby Stewart added 16 kills and seven blocks as the Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball swept Hartwick College and rallied to down St. John Fisher College Saturday in an Empire 8 Conference tri-match.

The victories improved Stevens' record to 22-6 on the year and a perfect 8-0 in conference play. The win over St. John Fisher clinched the E8 regular season title for the Ducks, the fifth straight for the Stevens women's volleyball program. Stevens will host the conference championship, taking on Alfred University in one semifinal, while St. John Fisher takes on Nazareth College on the other side of the bracket.

In the opener, King collected 10 kills with just one error, and senior Emily Singleton added nine kills, as the Ducks bested the Hawks 3-0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-17). 

In game two, the Ducks rallied from an early one-set deficit to defeat St. John Fisher 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-13, 25-23). King again led the way offensively with 13 kills, while Stewart had 10 kills and six blocks.

Kaitlyn Ludden led Hartwick with six kills. The Hawks were swept by St. John Fisher to round out play. Hartwick fell to 10-15 and 4-4 in conference play. 

Anna Marcy notched a match-high 17 kills for the Cardinals, who finished the day at 21-7. St. John Fisher concluded league play at 6-2 to earn the No. 3 seed in the conference championship.

Volleys and Points (Hartwick)

• A Stevens attack error handed the first point of the match to Hartwick.
• The Ducks reeled off four consecutive points to an early edge in the frame.
• Hartwick's only block of the match drew the set even at four.
• After the teams exchanged points, Stevens went on a 6-0 run to take a commanding 11-5 lead. Sophomores Taleen Mitchell and Sara Hain combined for four kills. 
• A service error briefly halted the Stevens run, but a Mitchell kill returned the serve to the Ducks.
• Using strong play from the outside, Stevens used a 14-5 stretch to close out the first set.
• Similar to the opening frame, Hartwick jumped out in front in the second. 
• Senior Emily Singleton converted a Julie Greco set to put Stevens on the board and the Ducks would go on to score seven consecutive points to appear to break open the set.
• Hartwick would rally to tie the set at nine, only to see Hain and Greco convert back-to-back kills to reclaim a lead for Stevens.
• Rosa Maun briefly slowed down the Stevens offense, but the Ducks responded with four straight points to take a six-point lead.
• Hartwick would draw within five points on two different occasions, but the Ducks scored five of the final six points of the set to take a 2-0 lead in the match. 
• Looking to close out the match, it was Stevens that got on the board first in the final set on a Stewart kill.
• Errors briefly gave Hartwick leads at 2-1 and 3-2.
• After a Hartwick error returned serve to the Ducks, consecutive aces from junior Emily Piekarski and a Mitchell kill gave Stevens a 6-3 lead. The deficit would prove too much for Hartwick to overcome as Stevens maintained its lead for the remainder of the match.
• Hartwick would pull to within a point at 6-5 and 7-6, but Stevens would not let the Hawks pull the set even. 
• Leading 12-8, Stevens scored seven of the next nine points to comfortably pull ahead by eight points.
• A King conversion grew the Stevens advantage to nine before Hartwick ran off four straight points to close to within five.
• After a Stevens timeout, King converted a Greco feed to return the serve to the guests with a 23-17 lead and begin the match-ending stretch.

Volleys and Points (St. John Fisher)

• King's first kill of the match opened the scoring.
• With the teams tied at six, a Fisher service error gave Stevens possession and the Ducks scored the next five points to take an 11-6 edge. Mitchell continued the run with an ace and Hain and King combined for two kills and a block to punctuate the stretch.
• Stevens would maintain its advantage until three errors tied the set at 15.
• A series of Cardinal errors capped by a Mitchell ace pushed Stevens' lead to 21-18.
• St. John Fisher rallied with six of the next seven points to force a set point.
• King converted a Greco set to draw the Ducks within one by Marcy knocked down a Rebecca Hay set to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
• Trailing in the match for the first time on the afternoon, Stevens scored three of the first five points in the second set to take a slim lead.
• Fisher would rebound to take two-point leads at 9-7, 12-10 and 14-12 before a Stevens timeout settled down play.
• After Coach McShea's timeout, kills by Singleton and Mitchell reclaimed a lead for the Ducks.
• After drawing even again at 16, three straight errors and consecutive kills by King contributed to a 21-16 Stevens lead.
• Fisher would claw back into the set at 22-20 and 23-21, but a Stewart block and a Stewart kill tied the match.
• The decisive third set saw the teams exchange points over the early portion of the frame, drawing even at eight.
• Kills by Hain and King turned the knotted score into a Stevens advantage and the Ducks would feed of that newfound lead, reeling off seven straight points to take an 18-10 lead.
• An Alex Buhrle temporarily returned the serve to the Cardinals, but King quickly dashed any hope of a Fisher comeback, leading to another string of points for the Ducks and a 23-11 lead.
• A Marcy service error closed out the set.
• The final set was a back-and-forth affair with neither side holding more than a two-point lead in the early going, until the Ducks scored three straight points to open a 14-11 lead.
• Looking to force a fifth set, a string of four errors in five points led to a 20-16 lead for St. John Fisher and forced a timeout.
• Trailing 22-19, Stewart put down a Greco set to spark the Stevens offense. The Ducks responded with five of the next six points to close out the match.

Match Point (Hartwick)

• A Shelby Stewart kill closed out the match.

Match Point (St. John Fisher)

• A four-point run, punctuated by an Emily Singleton block closed the match.

Inside the Numbers (Hartwick)

• Stevens hit .298 (38-10-94) in the match, while holding Hartwick to .060 (23-18-83).
• Strong net play led to a negative attack percentage for the Hawks in the second set.
• Behind four by Casey King, Stevens held a 10-4 advantage in aces. King's recorded four aces in two of the last three matches.
• Stevens recorded two blocks. Ludder and Rosa Maun teamed for the only net rejection by Hartwick.
• Senior libero Sydni Horner led all players with 17 digs.
• Stewart and sophomore Sara Hain combined for 11 kills on 23 attacks with just one error. 

Inside the Numbers (St. John Fisher)

• Stevens outhit St. John Fisher 0.240-0.156.
• Stevens did not commit an attack error in the second set (12-0-25). 
• The Ducks held a 10-4 edge in blocks. Four different players recorded at least three rejections.
• Greco and Mitchell each totaled two aces.
• Stewart's double-digit kill total was her third of the season.
• Greco handed out 34 assists for her 14th match with 30 or more assists.

Coach Speak

• "Congratulations to both Hartwick and Fisher on great regular seasons. We had the pressure put on us all day and we had to find ways to respond, which we were successful with."
• "Our defense was getting great touches and as soon as we were able to translate it into our offense, we were a force."
• "We worked hard on our blocking this week as well, which translated into a lot of exciting points."

On clinching the E8 Regular Season title

• "We are thrilled to have won another E8 regular season championship. St. John Fisher really played us well, which made it an even sweeter win."

Unsung Heroes

• "Both of our middles were great today. They worked very hard on the changes we made with our blocking, which was huge."
• "To have them as offensive threats, in addition to their solid blocking, is incredible."

Up Next

• Stevens heads to St. Davids, Pennsylvania for the Eastern University Invitational.
• The Ducks will play three non-conference matches at the event, beginning with an important rematch of the 2016 Empire 8 Conference championship against Ithaca College. Stevens is currently ranked third in the New York region, behind Vassar and Ithaca.
• Matches with No. 6 Carnegie Mellon University and the hosting Eagles round out the weekend.
• Live stats and video links will be available on StevensDucks.com when they become available.

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