BROOKLYN, N.Y. (March 11, 2018)  – Sophomore David Lehman recorded a career-high 25 kills on 32 attacks with just a single error resulting in an NCAA single-match high .750 attack percentage (minimum 20 attempts) as No.2 Stevens Institute of Technology Men's Volleyball topped Elmira College in four sets (25-14, 23-25, 25-19, 25-14) Sunday in a United Volleyball Conference crossover match, hosted by New York University.

Junior Dylan DeBoer added 12 kills and a pair of aces for the Ducks, who won their seventh straight match to improve to 16-3 on the year. Stevens remains atop the UVC standings with a 5-0 record. With four matches remaining on the UVC schedule and a victory over Vassar College in hand, the Ducks need to win three of their next fours matches, including next weekend's showdown with nationally-ranked New Paltz University to win the league's regular season title outright and the accompanying hosting privileges for the conference championship. 

Ryan McDonough led Elmira with 11 kills. The Soaring Eagles fell to 15-7 on the year and 3-2 in UVC play.

Stevens improved to 9-1 all-time against Elmira.

Volleys and Points

• A service error gave Elmira the opening point of the match.
• Stevens took four the of the next five points to grab control of the set. Graduate student Gabe Shankweiler set down a Jacob Patterson set to begin the stretch and senior Thomas Burrell paired with Patterson to block a Jose Malave attack to complete it.
• The Ducks continued to string together similar stretches in the opening set, to race out to a 12-6 lead after Shankweiler converted a Joshua Hinton pass.
• Lehman would convert consecutive Patterson sets leading to a nine-point lead before Elmira scored three straight points to pull with six. The Soaring Eagles wouldn't draw any closer.
• A triple block by Lehman, Patterson and Shankweiler pushed the Stevens lead to 19-11 and the Ducks would go on to score five of the final six points of the frame to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
• The second set saw Elmira strike first again on a McDonough kill. 
• The Soaring Eagles received consecutive kills from Landon Miller and a double block by Miller and Dan Symer to take a 4-1 lead.
• Elmira's advantage would grow to as many as 10 (17-7) before the Ducks began to claw back into the match.
• Junior Cooper Diamond opened the stretch with a pin of a Patterson set and consecutive three-point runs tied the set at 21 with freshman Ryan Byrne providing a spark off the bench.
• Elmira scored four of the final six points to tie the match at one with set point coming on a Diamond blocking error.
• With the match tied, it was Stevens that came out charging in the third set, with Lehman registering kills from two different setters.
• The third set saw Stevens hit a match-high .556, making only three attack errors in the frame.
• Elmira would close to within a point after a McDonough kill, but four straight points again created separation. 
• Lehman recorded 10 kills in the set as Stevens held off Elmira to take the third. Bryne set down a Patterson set to close out the frame.
• It was Stevens that came out fast in the final set, scoring three of the first four points to take a 3-1 lead. Bryne recorded a kill and an ace in the opening stretch and Lehman accounted for the other early point with a thunderous kill off a Patterson feed.
• Dan Symer put down a Jeremy Best set to draw Elmira within a point, but a service error returned possession to the other side of the net and Stevens took advantage, with consecutive kills by Byrne and DeBoer giving the Ducks a 6-2 lead.
• The Ducks continued to grow their lead, using powerful attacks and a strong presence at the net. 
• A Burrell kill followed a double block, gave Stevens an 18-10 lead.
• With a commanding lead in the set, the Ducks scored five of the final six points to earn the victory with three Elmira errors contributing to the stretch.

Match Point

• Lehman partnered with Diamond to block a Symer attack to close out the match.

Inside the Numbers    

• Stevens hit .443 for the match (61-14-106), while holding Elmira to just .189 (39-21-95).
• The Ducks held the edge in kills, aces, blocks and digs.
• Elmira did not record an ace. It's the second consecutive match where an opponent was unable to crack the Stevens service defense.
• Burrell continues to attack at a proficient rate, totaling 10 kills on 14 attacks with just two errors (.571 attack percentage). The senior also recorded four blocks.
• Led by a match-high eight from Patterson, nine different players recorded at least one dig.
• In addition to his performance on the attack, Lehman completed his day with four blocks and four digs.

Unsung Heroes

• Patterson totaled 50 assists as Stevens hit .443 (61-14-106) on the afternoon, which also set a NCAA-high for a four-set match. The 50 helpers were three shy of the Los Gatos, California native's career-high, set in a five-set win over NYU on March 1, 2017. When the national rankings are released, the junior setter will be three-hundredths-of-an-assist-per-set behind Carthage's Matt Reinsel for the national lead.

Up Next

• No. 2 Men's Volleyball travels to Albany, New York for the next-to-last UVC crossover pod of the season.
• Stevens takes on Sage on March 17 and then plays No. 9 New Paltz on March 18. Both matches will be played at Sage.
• Live stats and video links are unavailable at this time..

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