BROOKLYN, N.Y. (February 15, 2017)  – Senior Gabe Shankweiler recorded 11 kills and the No. 2 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the match, but fell at No. 9 New York University in five sets (25-16, 25-22, 21-25, 17-25, 11-15) in a United Volleyball Conference matchup at NYU's Brooklyn Athletic facility Wednesday.

Freshman David Lehman added 12 kills for the Ducks. however Stevens attacked at a season-low .146 percentage, making a season-high 26 attack errors in dropping its first match of the season. The Ducks fell to 10-1 on the season and 0-1 in UVC play. 

Freshman Alex Li tallied 13 attacks for NYU, who improved to 8-3 on the season and 4-0 in conference play.

Volleys and Points

• Stevens controlled the opening set with a 6-0 to open an 11-4 lead.
• A three-point run to push the lead 17-7 forced a second NYU timeout.
• A quick flurry from NYU pulled the Violets to within 23-15.
• The teams alternated service errors over the final three points to give Stevens the opening set.
• The teams alternated the first 18 points of the second set to force a 9-9 tie.
• A Shankweiler kill and a pair of NYU errors opened a 12-9 lead for the Ducks.
• After opening the three-point lead, the Ducks kept NYU at bay for the remainder of the second set. A Shankweiler kill and another NYU error closed out the set.
• Looking to close the match, Stevens jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the third set.
• NYU rallied behind the attack of Evan Lindley and Alex Li and a series of Stevens errors to claim a 9-7 advantage.
• The Ducks rallied behind Shankweiler and junior Thomas Burrell to hold leads of 14-12 and 15-14.
• A Lindley kill and a pair of errors turned the set back to NYU.
• NYU closed out the third set on back-to-back kills from Neil Ferraro and Sean Leahy.
• Looking to even the match, Ferraro opened with the fourth set with a kill, immediately giving NYU an advantage.
• Another Shankweiler ace evened the set at 2.
• Back-to-back errors allowed NYU to open a 4-2 lead. Stevens was unable to draw even in the set.
• NYU scored six of the last seven points to close the fourth set at 25-17 to send the teams to the tie-breaking set.
• NYU would immediately grab control of the deciding set on a kill by Derrick Chiu.
• A Leahy kill and two Stevens errors opened a 4-1 lead for the Violets.
• A kill by senior Ian Bennett and a double block by sophomore Dylan DeBoer and senior Jordan Stuart drew the Ducks to within 4-3.
• Three kills and an attack error gave the Violets an 8-3 advantage.
• A late rally by the Ducks pulled Stevens to within 14-11 before NYU closed the match.

Match Point

• Back-to-back aces from Shankweiler pulled Stevens to within three (14-11) in the final set.
• Shankweiler couldn't keep his fourth consecutive serve inbounds, as NYU closed out the match with a Stevens service error.

Inside the Numbers

• Shankweiler totaled five aces, helping the Ducks to a 10-5 edge.
• After attacking at a .353 (25-7-51) percentage over the first two sets, the Ducks struggled at the attack over the final three sets, only tallying a .000 percentage (19-19-72). The fourth-set percentage of -.083 marked the lowest single-set total of the season.
• NYU recorded nine kills on 16 attacks with one error, to record a .500 attack percentage in the final set.
• The Ducks recorded 43 assists without a single ball handling error.

Coach Speak

• "I think we struggled a little bit with our passing, which did not allow us to use our middles and it also made our outsides blockable."
• "Over the course of the match, I thought [NYU's] servers really stepped up."

Up Next

• The Ducks continue conference play with a tri-match at Elmira College, featuring the Soaring Eagles and No. 8 Vassar.
• Live stats Video links are available at StevensDucks.com. 

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