ROCHESTER, N.Y. (March 30, 2018)  – Junior Dylan DeBoer recorded a team-high eight kills as No. 3 Stevens Institute of Technology Men's Volleyball moved one step closer to a United Volleyball Conference regular season title with a sweep of St. John Fisher College (25-19, 25-20, 25-22) Friday in a neutral-site match hosted by Nazareth College. It was the first-ever meeting between the teams. St. John Fisher began sponsoring men's volleyball with the 2018 season.

Senior Thomas Burrell turned in another efficient performance at the attack with seven kills on nine attacks with just one error (0.667 attack percentage) for the Ducks, who won their second straight match to improve to 19-4 on the year. By improving to 7-1 in conference play, Stevens clinched a bye in the opening round of the UVC Championship. With one match remaining, a victory Saturday afternoon would give Stevens the league's regular season title and hosting rights for the postseason tournament. 

St. John Fisher's Mike Strumpfler led all players with nine kills. The Cardinals fell to 12-13 on the year and 1-7 in conference play. 

Volleys and Points

• Sophomore David Lehman set down a Jacob Patterson set for the first point of the match.
• Fisher came out firing on the offensive side of things, scoring five of the next six points to open a four point lead.
• The Cardinals grew their lead to 10-5 on a double block by Kenney and Strumpfler. The five-point lead was the Fisher's largest of the match.
• The Ducks chipped away at the deficit, finally jumping in front for good after the team's second four-point run of the frame, taking advantage of three straight errors.
• A DeBoer set brought Stevens to set point and a Strumpfler attack error closed out the set.
• Ben De La Cruz converted a Paul Hackford set to open the second set.
• The teams alternated runs, with kills by graduate student Gabe Shankweiler sandwiched a DeBoer kill to tie the set at six. The Allentown, Pennsylvania native finished with five kills.
• Back-and-forth play continued in the frame until the Ducks scored consecutive points on a Burrell kill and a Lehman ace to take a three-point lead (13-10).
• Two Fisher errors and another Lehman ace pushed the advantage to seven before took advantage of two Stevens errors to draw within 17-12.
• The teams alternated the next 16 points before a Patterson block closed out the set.
• Trailing 2-0, Hackford served up an ace to open the scoring in the third.
• Freshman Ryan Byrne sparked a three-point run, punctuated by an ace from classmate Jack Bittker, to give the Ducks a 5-2 lead.
• Fisher closed to within a point, but Stevens never relinquished the lead.
• Leading 14-12, Burrell set down a set from sophomore Grant Burden to reclaim the serve. 
• The Ducks reeled off the next four points to take a 19-12 lead. 
• The Cardinals scored three straight to pull within four, but another Fisher error returned the serve to the third-ranked Ducks.
• Bryne set down a Burden set to give Stevens a 22-17 lead.
• The teams alternated the next five points before DeBoer converted a Burden set, giving Stevens match point.

Match Point

• A Fisher service error closed out the match.

Unsung Heroes

• Patterson again ran an efficient offense, helping Stevens attack at a 0.301 percentage for the match. Stevens hit a match-high 0.346 in the second set, and the Los Gatos, California native didn't commit a setting error or a ball-handling error for 16th time this season.

Coach Speak

• "A good match to get the last conference weekend going. We started a bit shaky, but pulled it together. Our defense played great, and in turn, our offense got going, led by Dylan and Tom."  - assistant coach Amable Martinez

Up Next

• No. 3 Men's Volleyball takes on Nazareth College Saturday in the final UVC match of the regular season. 
• Live stats and video links on StevensDucks.com.

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