LANCASTER, Pa. (February 11, 2017)  – Senior Gabe Shankweiler totaled 19 kills and four blocks over two matches sophomore Dylan DeBoer added 12 kills with three blocks as No. 3 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball swept the Lancaster Bible College Tri-Match with wins over the hosting Chargers (25-19, 25-12, 25-11)  and No. 10 Eastern Mennonite University (25-18, 25-22, 25-18) Saturday.

Sophomore Jacob Patterson recorded 53 assists and senior Ian Bennett tallied 10 kills on 16 attacks with just one error as the Ducks improved to 10-0 on the season.

Kasey Gentry recorded five kills for Lancaster Bible and Josh Elmore had 10 kills for Eastern Mennonite, who matched up in the final game of the tri-match.

Volleys and Points

• Stevens immediately took control of the opening match, scoring five of the first six points in the first set.
• LBC would take advantage of a pair of errors to draw within one point (6-5).
• With Dylan DeBoer on the serve, the Ducks went on a 5-0 run to force a Lancaster timeout (13-7).
• The Ducks comfortably remained in front of the Chargers, winning the first set on a Kasey Gentry service error.
• Back-to-back kills by Shankweiler and DeBoer opened an early lead for Stevens in the second set.
• A three-point rally opened a 13-7 lead for the Ducks and forced a Lancaster timeout.
• Stevens closed out the second set off a Lancaster service error.
• Leading the match 2-0, a kill by sophomore Joshua Hinton and a pair of Lancaster errors opened a 5-2 lead for the Ducks in the third set. 
• Two errors by Lancaster and a pair of kills by Bennett and Hinton pushed the lead to 9-3
• The Chargers would not draw any closer than four points in the final set.
• Fresh off its three-set victory in the tri's opening match, the Ducks used a kill by freshman David Lehman, a ball handling error, and a Shankweiler ace to score the first three points of the match.
• EMU forced a tie in the first set on two occasions but was unable to ever claim a lead.
• Three errors surrounding kills by Lehman and Shankweiler broke the open the first set at 22-17.
• A service error to begin the second set was the first deficit the Ducks on the afternoon.
• The teams alternated points until a series of EMU errors led to a 12-10 lead for the Ducks and a Royals timeout.
• After the timeout, EMU rallied to take a 15-14 lead.
• A Shankweiler kill followed by four consecutive EMU errors led to a 19-15 advantage for Stevens.
• EMU would close to within two (24-22) but Deboer notched a kill to close the set. It was the second consecutive set-winning point for the sophomore.
• In the final set, Shankweiler notched two aces and a kill to open a 3-0 lead.
• The Royals rebounded with four straight points to open a 5-4 lead. This was longest run of the match for EMU.
• Stevens took control of the set on kills by Lehman and Patterson.
• The Royals could not draw any closer than two points over the remainder of the match.

Match Point

• After seizing control of the third set, Jordan Stuart closed out the match with his third kill.
• Back-to-back kills from Shankweiler and DeBoer closed out EMU in straight sets.

Inside the Numbers

• Stevens forced Lancaster Bible into a negative attack percentage for the match (16-22-74).
• The Ducks attacked at a .739 (18-1-23) percentage in the second set against LBC, the highest single-set total of the season.
• Stevens did not trail Lancaster Bible at any point in the match.
• The Ducks recorded 12 blocks on the afternoon, including eight against LBC.
• Shankweiler recorded three of team's five aces on the day.

Coach Speak

• "Ian Bennett was very solid against LBC, as was Jacob Paterson."
• "I thought our blocking was solid against both teams"
• "Our middles were strong on the attack."
• "Against Eastern Mennonite, it was a great performance by everyone."
• "Our sets and pins were great against EMU, each doing the job they're supposed to do and then numbers speak for themselves."
• "I think that everything we have done to this point has prepared us for the beginning of conference play. Our trip to Germany prepared us for the Golden Dome Invitational and these strong non-conference weekends have us prepared for the UVC."

Up Next

• The Ducks open play in the United Volleyball Conference with a match at No. 9 New York University on February 15.
• Video links are available at StevensDucks.com. Live stats links will be added when available.

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