HOBOKEN, N.J. (September 13, 2017) – Sophomore
Taleen Mitchell recorded a match-high 16 kills and the Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team won its sixth straight match with a come-from-behind 3-1 victory (18-25, 25-15, 25-11, 25-19) over the State University of New York at New Paltz Wednesday evening.
Senior
Emily Singleton nearly recorded a double-double for the Ducks, tallying eight kills and six blocks. Stevens recorded 10 blocks on the night and forced the Hawks into 30 attack errors to improve to 8-2 on the year.
Taylor Cimillo had nine kills and two aces for New Paltz, who fell to 5-3.
Volleys and Points
- Back-to-back errors by the Ducks allowed New Paltz to take a quick 2-0 lead.
- Stevens made 10 total errors in the opening set.
- New Paltz would not relinquish the lead, opening a six-point lead.
- A Maddie Zwickl ball-handling error drew the Ducks to within five (23-18), but Cimillo converted a Zwickl set to give New Paltz set point and Demi Herasme set down a Zwickl feed to close out the opening set.
- Stevens played one of its best defensive sets (statistically) of the season in the second set, forcing 11 attack errors, including five blocks. New Paltz committed three more attack errors than kills for a -.086 hit percentage.
- New Paltz would close to within 9-8, but Stevens scored five straight points, punctuated by consecutive block assists from Singleton and sophomore Shelby Stewart.
- The Ducks would keep at least an eight-point margin the rest of the way, evening the match when sophomores Casey King and Sara Hain paired up to block a Emma Hines attack. King finished the night with 11 kills and 12 digs for her sixth double-double of the year. Hain added four kills and three blocks.
- Stevens used the momentum from its second-set victory to score five of the first seven points in the third frame.
- Hitting a match-high .387 (13-1-31), Stevens only made one error in the third set. The Ducks were able to keep New Paltz off-balance with strong serving, including two aces from King and one from sophomore Julie Greco.
- The Ducks scored seven of the final eight points, including three kills by Mitchell.
- New Paltz jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the final set on a Julie Greenspan kill and a Veronica Matedero ace.
- Stevens responded with the next three points, highlighted by a tandem block by Hain and Singleton.
- The Hawks clawed their way to a 10-8 advantage, which the visitors held until Stevens knotted the frame at 14.
- With freshman Jillian Roumbanis at the serve, senior Sydni Horner was able to record a pair of digs that led to kills by King and Mitchell to give Stevens a 16-14 edge.
- The Ducks would maintain the lead for the remainder of the set, forcing a Zwickl ball-handling error to bring match point.
Match Point
Inside the Numbers
- Stevens held New Paltz to a negative attack percentage in the second and fourth sets. The Hawks hit just .037 on the match.
- King and Stewart each recorded two aces. The sophomores rank first and fourth on the team respectively.
- Mitchell also recorded a match-best 14 digs for her fifth double-double of the year.
- Tonight's victory was Stevens' second consecutive over New Paltz. The Hawks had won seven matches in a row.
- In addition to the 30 attack errors, New Paltz had eight serving errors, six ball-handling errors and one blocking error.
- As a team, Stevens recorded 60 digs and is averaging just over 17 digs per set this season.
- Greco came off the bench to lead the team with 27 assists over three sets. The Thornwood, New York native also added six digs.
Coach Speak
- "New Paltz really put the pressure on us at the start [of the match]. They came out with a lot of fire, which we struggled with."
- "In the last three sets, we were able to execute our game plan better and take control of the match,"
- "We struggle at the start of matches sometimes, but I'm really happy with the way we finished."
Unsung Heroes
- "Both Taleen and Casey had themselves a day. Taleen was swinging harder that I've seen her in a long time and Casey was mixing her shots up to keep [New Paltz] on their heels. They both played awesome defense also. We talked a lot about the tendencies of New Paltz's hitters before the match and they were able to translate that into digging them with ease."
Up Next
- The Ducks return to Canavan Arena for the 2017 Ducks Classic, with matches against Alfred University, No. 24 Christopher Newport University and Arcadia University.
- Friday night's Empire 8 Conference opener with the Saxons begins the event for Stevens.
- Live stats and video links available at StevensDucks.com. The match between No. 24 Christopher Newport and New York University will precede the Stevens match.
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