BEVERLY, MASS. (April 22, 2017)  – Senior Ian Bennett recorded a career-high 20 kills to send the seventh-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team on to the NCAA quarterfinals with a 3-1 (25-20, 25-19, 18-25, 25-23) victory over Endicott College Saturday afternoon.

Senior Gabe Shankweiler added 14 kills and three blocks for the Ducks, who improved to 30-5. Stevens reached the 30-win plateau for the fourth time in program history. The Ducks will reach the quarterfinal round for the fourth straight season.

2017 New England Collegiate Conference Tournament Most Valuable Player Daniel Toth led the Gulls with 16 kills. Endicott concludes the 2017 season with a 21-11 record.

Stevens will take on No. 6 Dominican University Friday in Springfield. 

Volleys and Points

• After earning the right to sever first, the Ducks scored the first four points of the match with Jacob Patterson at the serve. A Chad Riorden ball-handling error opened the scoring, followed by an ace, a Bennett block and a Stuart kill opened the 4-0 lead.
• The Ducks maintained the four-point advantage throughout the first set before a Donovan Dey block brought the Gulls to within 13-11.
• Stevens rebounded to score three of the next four points (kills by Bennett and Shankweiler and a Thomas Burrell block) to force an Endicott timeout with Stevens leading 16-12.
• After the timeout, Bryn Lipton converted an Adam Dake pass to return the serve to the hosting team, but Stevens earned four of the next five points to take a 20-14 lead and force a second Endicott timeout.
• For the second time in the set, Endicott regained the serve after the timeout, but a service error quickly returned possession to the Ducks and a Shankweiler ace and kills by Bennett and Dylan DeBoer brought Stevens to a set point (24-16).
• Endicott rallied for four consecutive points to fight off set off point, but Bennett's fifth kill of the set gave Stevens a 1-0 lead.
• In the second set, Stevens grabbed control on back-to-back kills by Stuart and Bennett to take a 3-1 lead. 
• Endicott scored three straight points, including two on block assists, to take a 5-4 advantage for its first lead of the match.
• The teams alternated points, playing to seven ties, before a Burrell kill and a block assist by Shankweiler and Burrell propelled Stevens to a 15-13 lead and forced an Endicott timeout.
• After play resumed, the Ducks continued to surge, scoring points on a Lipton attack error, a DeBoer ace and a Bennett kill to open an 18-13 lead and force another EC timeout.
• After an Endicott block halted the Stevens run, Stevens returned the favor to regain the serve.
• A Stuart kill pushed the lead to 20-14, before the teams alternated the next four points. 
• Endicott rallied for three points to climb back into the set, but Bennett converted a Patterson set to stop the run and DeBoer followed suit to give the Ducks a 25-19 win and a 2-0 lead.
• The third set saw Stevens jump out to 5-2 lead, taking advantage of two Endicott errors.
• The Gulls rallied to tie the match at five after Toth converted a Riorden set.
• The Ducks jumped back out in front on a block by Patterson and Burrell, but sensing their season was coming to a close, Endicott countered every Stevens offensive spurt, and forced ties at 8, 9 and 11.
• With the Ducks clinging to 15-13 lead, Endicott went on its longest run of the match, scoring six straight points to take a 19-15 lead. Daniel Toth recorded two kills and the Gulls blocked three straight attacks to close out the run.
• Bennett converted a set to briefly halt Endicott offense, but the Gulls quickly regained the serve and reeled off four more points to take a 23-16 lead.
• Another Bennett kill staved off set point, but Tim Fiessler converted a Dake pass to give Endicott the win.
• The fourth set was a thrilling affair, with the Ducks trying to silence the rejuvenated MacDonald Gym and Endicott trying to force a fifth set. The teams played five sets at the Wentworth tri-match earlier in the season.
• A Bennett kill started a streak of seven straight points that saw the Ducks open an 8-1 lead. Three Endicott errors and a pair of block assists highlighted the stretch.
• Endicott began the slow climb into the match, taking advantage of a Stevens serving error and a block of a Bennett attack.
• Bennett pinned down a Patterson set to briefly halt the Endicott rally, but the Gulls scored consecutive points to draw within 9-5.
• A block error returned the ball to the Ducks and an attack error gave the Ducks an 11-5 lead. 
• The teams alternated the next five points. Endicott scored five out of the next six points to trim the Stevens lead to 14-13.
• Endicott completed the rally, tying the set at 16 after back-to-back attack errors.
• After the teams exchanged kills, Stevens converted consecutive kills by Stuart and Bennett to open a 20-18 lead. 
• Two of the next three points also went to Stevens that saw the Ducks seize a 22-19 advantage. 
• After a controversial kill by Ian Bennett, a yellow card was given to Endicott's head coach.
• After the yellow card was issued, Endicott scored back-to-back points, but a DeBoer kill brought the Ducks to match point.
• A Lipton kill kept the Gulls alive, but Stevens quickly closed out the match.

Match Point

• Dylan DeBoer's third kill of the set finished out the match for the Ducks.

Inside the Numbers

• Stevens outhit Endicott (.213-.183) for the match, but beat Endicott at the attack, .234-.143 over the first two sets in building a 2-0 lead.
• Despite seven blocks from junior Thomas Burrell, Endicott outblocked the Ducks, 16-12.
• Sophomore setter Jacob Patterson collected 47 assists and had more assists as an individual than the Gulls had collectively (45). 
• Burrell's nine blocks helped the Ducks gain an 11-8 edge at the net. NYU led the other statistical categories.
• Bennett added 10 digs for his first career double-double. Shankweiler also had 10 digs his second double-double of the season. Niko Lambert led the team with 11.
• Senior Jordan Stuart recorded nine kills on 13 assists with two errors for a .538 attack percentage. 

Coach Speak (Martinez)

• "We got off to a great start at both ends of the court."
• "Ian Bennett stepped us big for us today."
• "Our middles stepped up in the second set, hitting above .500, with some timely blocks."
• "Endicott made some adjustments in the third set and our serve-receive struggled a bit. We eventually picked it up and were able to finish in a hard-fought fourth set."
• "A great win in front a large crowd that was behind Endicott!"

From the Floor (Bennett)

• "Shoutout to Jacob Patterson for an awesome day. He's the reason I was able to be so successful."
• "Now, we have to bring this energy and focus into the next week of practice and the quarterfinals on Friday."

Up Next

• The Ducks will take on the sixth-ranked Dominican University Stars in the NCAA Quarterfinal round. Dominican swept the Ducks on March 26.

Facebook: "Like" Stevens Athletics         
Twitter: @stevensducks
Instagram: @stevensducks
Snapchat: ducks_athletics