PITTSFORD, N.Y. (October 20, 2018)  – Junior Taleen Mitchell recorded her ninth double-double of the season with 19 kills and 11 digs as the Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 deficit to defeat St. John Fisher in five sets (23-25, 25-15, 32-34, 25-20, 15-11) Saturday to win the program's sixth straight Empire 8 Conference regular season title.

In the second match of the day, the Ducks defeated Elmira College in three sets (25-21, 25-16, 25-14) to complete a perfect regular season. Mitchell recorded 15 kills while junior Shelby Stewart added 10 kills. Senior Brianna Perez tallied 31 assists to become the fifth player in program history to cross the 2,000-assist plateau.

Today's victories bring the team's conference regular season winning streak to 51 matches. The Ducks haven't dropped a regular season match since falling to Elmira in five sets on October 5, 2012.

Since joining the Empire 8 in 2007, Stevens has earned the number one seed in the E8's postseason tournament nine times. Over the same span, the next closest team is Elmira, who earned the top seed twice.

The Cardinals were led by Alexa Steigerwald with 25 kills and 22 digs. St. John Fisher falls to 14-13 on the year and 5-2 in Empire 8 action.

Elmira was led by Tiara John, who recorded 11 kills and 11 digs. The Soaring Eagles fall to 11-15 overall and 2-3 in conference play.

Volleys and Points (St. John Fisher)

• The Ducks opened the match with a kill from Perez.
• Fisher answered with a kill from Steigerwald.
• Three consecutive attack errors by the Cardinals gave Stevens and 4-1 lead.
• With the Ducks up 8-6, Fisher scored two points from a service error and a kill by Rebecca Hay to tie up the set.
• Stevens then scored on a service error before the Cardinals scored three consecutive points to take the lead.
• The Ducks fought back to tie the set 12-12.
• Stevens took back the lead after three errors committed by the cardinals.\
• Tied 20-20, Stevens scored on a service error followed by an ace from Mitchell.\
• Fisher then went on a 4-0 run to lead 24-22.
• After a Stevens timeout, the Ducks scored the next point but it was not enough as the Cardinals earned the final point to win the set.
• Freshman Roxy Stirb delivered an ace to open the second set.
• A kill from Steigerwald gave Fisher their first point of the set.
• The Cardinals scored three consecutive points led by two kills from Bernadette Nichols to take a 5-4 lead.
• Stevens answered with a 5-0 run that included an ace by junior Julie Greco kills from Perez, Mitchell and junior Kristen Edmiston.
• After a Fisher timeout, Nichols delivered a kill to end the streak.
• Mitchell answered with back-to-back kills to put the Ducks up 12-6.
• Two Cardinals delivered kills before committing a service error, making the score 13-8.
• Stevens earned three consecutive points to begin to distance themselves after a pair of kills from freshman Corinne Dougherty and another kill by Mitchell.
• The teams alternated points before Dougherty closed the set with a kill.
• Stevens began the third set with an ace by freshman Elizabeth Chu and a Stewart kill.
• After a Ducks service error, Fisher scored on a kill by Izzy Smith and an ace from Elise Kreuz.
• With the Cardinals up 6-5, Corinne Dougherty delivered two kills followed by a Fisher attack error to put Stevens in the lead.
• The Cardinals then went on a 4-0 after multiple errors by the Ducks to take back the lead.
• Two kills from Mitchell, a Greco ace, and a Fisher attack error allowed Stevens to take a 14-13 lead.
• After trading points and Stevens holding on to their lead 21-19, Fisher scored three consecutive points to put themselves ahead by one.
• Edmiston tied the set after a kill.
• Smith delivered a kill for the Cardinals to make the score 23-22, but Stevens scored the next two points to close in on winning the set.
• Two kills from Nichols put a stop to the Ducks and put Fisher in the lead, 25-24.
• Nichols committed an error before Dougherty issued a kill, giving Stevens a one point lead.
• Hay tied the set at 26 after a kill.
• Stewart then set down a pass from Greco.
• Two kills from Steigerwald put the Cardinals back in the lead, 28-27.\
• Another kill from Stewart followed by a Fisher error once again gave Stevens a one point lead.
• Steigerwald delivered another kill to tie the set, 29-29.
• Mitchell put the Ducks up by one after another kill, but Fisher scored two points to go up 31-30.
• The teams traded points before tying the score 32-32.
• Steigerwald issued a kill followed by a Ducks attack error to close out the long third set.
• Stewart set down a pass from Perez to begin the fourth set.
• Steigerwald put the Cardinals on the board with a kill.
• The teams alternated points before a 3-0 run by the Ducks led by freshman Terence Chan and an ace by Chu gave Stevens an 11-7 lead.
• Fisher scored the next four points to tie the set.
• Tied at 15, Stevens scored three consecutive points, including two kills from Mitchell, to take the lead, 18-15.
• After trading points, the Ducks issued four consecutive kills to force the match to a deciding set.
• A kill by Smith put Fisher on the board to start the final set before the Cardinals committed an error.
• Stewart then delivered two kills and an ace to give the Ducks a 4-2 lead.\
• The teams alternated kills before a Cardinals service error and a Mitchell ace made the score 7-4.
• After a Fisher timeout, Erica Pawlewicz set down a pass from Hay.
• Stevens responded with a 3-0 run that consisted of an ace by Chu and kills from Dougherty and Stewart.
• With Stevens in the lead 13-8, two kill from Smith and a Ducks error brought the Cardinals within two.
• Stevens scored the final two points of the match to win the regular season title.

Match Point (St. John Fisher)

• Mitchell delivered back-to-back kills to secure the victory for the Ducks.

Volleys and Points (Elmira)

• The Ducks earned the first three points of the match before committing an attack error.
• Two kills from Dougherty and an ace by Chu gave Stevens an 8-3 lead.
• After committing two errors, the Ducks answered with a kill by Perez and an ace by freshman Roxy Stirb.
• Following a kill by Elmira, Stevens went on a 4-0 run to take a 14-6 lead.
• The Soaring Eagles scored the next three points, led by Natalie Scheider and John with one kill apiece.
• Elmira began to claw their way back, coming within four points, but they were unable to catch up to the Ducks.
• Elmira took an early 5-3 lead in the second set after multiple errors by Stevens.
• The Soaring Eagles extended their lead 8-4 after a kill by Savannah Terry and an ace from John.
• The Ducks worked their way back within one after two errors by Elmira and a Dougherty kill.
• After a kill from John put Elmira up 12-11, the Ducks went on a 4-0 run to take the lead.
• Following kills from Mitchell and John for their respective teams, Stevens scored five consecutive points to take a 21-14 lead.
• The Ducks scored three more unanswered points before committing a service error.
• Stewart scored the final point of the set after setting down a pass from Perez.
• At the beginning of the third set, both teams alternated points before tying the score 9-9.
• Stevens then went on a 7-0 run that included four kills from Mitchell and an additional kill from Stewart, making the score 16-9.
• Two separate 3-0 runs by the Ducks was enough to send Stevens past Elmira.

• Mitchell set down a pass from Perez to complete the match.

Inside the Numbers (St. John Fisher)

• Stewart delivered a career-high 16 kills.
• Steigerwald led all players with 25 kills.
• Stevens held the edge in aces (11) and blocks (6).
• Fisher led in kills, digs, and assists.
• The Ducks had a hitting percentage of .400 in the second set.
• Hay led all players with 53 assists.
• Stewart completed the match with a .382 hitting percentage.
• Chu recorded a game-high 31 digs.
• The third set score of 34-32 is the highest scoring set the Ducks have competed in this season.
• Stevens improved to 4-2 in five-set matches this season.

Inside the Numbers (Elmira)

• The Ducks held Elmira to a negative hitting percentage in two of the three sets.
• Sophomore Jillian Roumbanis led all players with 17 digs.
• Stewart led all players with a hitting percentage of .368.
• Kasey Campbell led Elmira with 14 digs.
• Stevens held the advantage in kills, aces, blocks, assists and digs.

Unsung Hero

• Roumbanis totaled 26 digs across the two matches. The San Francisco, California native also registered two aces.  

Up Next

• Stevens travels to Baltimore to face No. 25 Johns Hopkins University for a non-conference match on Oct. 26 at 7 P.M.
• The Ducks will play their final two matches of the season away from campus.

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