HONOLULU, Hawaii (January 5, 2018)  – Sophomore David Lehman continued his strong start to the 2018 season with 19 kills, but the Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team, ranked second in the American Volleyball Coaches Association DIII Top-15 poll, fell to NCAA Division I's University of Southern California 3-1 (17-25, 25-27, 25-22, 18-25) on the second day of competition at the 2018 Texaco Rainbow Warrior Classic. The Trojans are ranked 12th in the AVCA DI-II Top 15 poll.

Graduate student Gabe Shankweiler added 10 kills for Stevens, who fell to 0-2.  It was the first-ever meeting between the programs.

Ryan Moss totaled a career, and match-high, 21 kills for the Trojans, who moved to 3-0 on the season. The win was USC's second consecutive over a Division III opponent, after the team's season-opening win over Princeton University. USC meets No. 5 Hawaii in the final match of the Classic.

Volleys and Points

• Although Stevens opened the match in possession of the serve, Moss pinned down a Lisha set to open the scoring.
• After USC scored the first five points of the opening frame, Lehman converted a Jacob Patterson set to put Stevens on the board.
• After gaining the early edge, the Trojans were able to maintain a six-point lead throughout the opening set. 
• The teams alternated the final eight points of the set, with USC earning a 25-17 score to take the first set.
• After settling into an offensive rhythm in the opening set, Stevens jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on a Lehman kill and a Shankweiler ace.
• The second set featured a significant amount of back-and-forth action with five ties and three lead changes.
• After the Ducks opened a three-point lead, USC claimed eight of the next 10 points to take a 9-6 advantage.
• With senior Thomas Burrell serving, the Ducks reeled off five straight points to retake the lead.
• Stevens would pull to set point on a Lehman kill, but USC was able to fight off two set points and finally earned the set on a tandem block by Lisha and Kyle Gear.
• With the match on the line, it was again Stevens that jumped on the board first in the third set, earning the first point on a USC attack error.
• After trading points, Stevens jumped back in front on a Burrell kill and a double block by Burrell and freshman Ryan Byrne.
• After regaining its early lead, Stevens held an advantage over the remainder of the set, opening as much as a five-point lead after a USC miscue.
• USC closed to within one at 14-13, but Patterson fed Burrell and Lehman for back-to-back kills to again put Stevens comfortably in front.
• Stevens closed out the third frame after Noah Franklin's serve sailed well out of bounds.
• The Ducks were able to score first for the third consecutive set when Lisha's set-opening serve went out of bounds.
• The early part of the fourth set featured eight ties as neither team was able to gain more than a two-point advantage. 
• After Shankweiler's kill drew the teams even at 12, Jack Wyett set down a Lisha set to put USC back in front. The Trojans would not relinquish the advantage, securing the victory with four of the set's final five points.

Match Point

• Lucas Lossone converted a Gert Lisha set to close the match. It was Lossone's third kill of the set.

Inside the Numbers

• USC outhit Stevens 0.333-0.231 for the match, but the Ducks outhit the Trojans 0.281-0.194 in the second and third sets.
• Each team recorded four aces. Shankweiler led the team with two aces, while Burrell and freshman Ryan Byrne each had one.
• Patterson and junior Cooper Diamond each recorded a match-high five blocks. As a team, USC held a 13-8.5 edge in total blocks.
• Patterson let the team with 39 assists.
• In addition to his team-leading kill total, Lehman hit a very efficient .438 (19-5-32) in the match to lead all players that had five attacks.
• In the final set, USC only made one attack error (12-1-19).

Coach Speak

• "Overall I am pleased with our performance and where we are as a team."
• "We battled [USC] point for point."
• "We were a little slow out of the gate, but were able to pick up our play and put a lot of pressure on them."
• "In the second and fourth sets, we had great opportunities to close the sets or make a push, but did not execute as well as would have liked."
• "Tonight was a great experience for our players to compete with another top-15 Division I team and show that we can play with them."
• "Individually, I thought Ryan and Cooper came into the match and gave us great energy, which helped us tremendously."

Unsung Heroes

• Junior middle hitter Cooper Diamond recorded four kills and tied a career-high with five blocks.

Up Next

• Stevens concludes play at the Texaco Rainbow Warrior Classic with a match against No. 6 Juniata College Saturday evening.
• The Ducks hold a 14-6 edge in the all-time series and have won four straight over the Eagles, including a sweep at the Rutgers-Newark Golden Dome Invitational last season.
• Live stats available at StevensDucks.com.

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