HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 8, 2018)  – Graduate student Ian Bennett totaled 24 kills over two matches as No. 3 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball swept both Hunter College (25-20, 25-19, 25-21) and the College of Staten Island (25-15, 25-7, 25-11) Sunday in a non-conference tri-match at Canavan Arena. The tri-match marked Stevens' final regular season contests of the 2018 season.

Senior Thomas Burrell collected 14 blocks on the afternoon and senior Nick Orlando picked up six kills and four blocks in his first collegiate start for the Ducks, who won their sixth straight match to finish the regular season with a 23-4 record. Stevens participated in four tri-matches on the year, winning all eight matches. The Ducks have only dropped two matches against Division III competition.

Matthew Zukowski led Hunter with six kills. The loss to Stevens snapped Hunter's five-match winning streak. The Hawks topped CSI in the neutral-site match to finish the regular season at 21-10. Hunter earned the top seed in the City University of New York Athletic Conference tournament. 

Christian Dumadag led CSI with five kills. The Dolphins fell to Hunter for the second time this season to finish the year at 6-16. CSI did not qualify for the CUNYAC's postseason tournament.

Prior to the match, Stevens men's volleyball honored its four-member Class of 2018: Nick Orlando, Thomas Burrell, Ian Bennett and Gabe Shankweiler in a pre-match ceremony. 

Volleys and Points (Hunter)

• Shankweiler set down a Burden set to open the scoring.
• Back-and-forth play marked the early portion of the first set as the teams played to four ties over the first 20 points
• Consecutive kills by sophomore Jonathan Frenzel and Benner provided Stevens with a 13-11 lead. The Ducks would hold the lead over the remainder of the set.
• A Burrell block sparked a Stevens run where the Ducks claimed six out of a possible eight points.
• A double block by Frenzel and Bennett pushed the lead to five and a Burrell kill closed out the set.
• Stevens scored the first five points of the second set, as a Shankweiler ace began the run and an Alec Helford ball-handling error closed it. Bennett accounted for the other two points of the run with a block and a kill.
• A stretch of four block assists pushed the lead to 12-3. The pairing of Burrell and Shankweiler accounted for all four rejections.
• Hunter attempted to claw back into the match, but the potent Stevens presence at the net kept the Hawks from sustaining any offensive consistency. The Ducks blocked seven Hunter attacks in the frame. 
• Stevens scored four of five points to reach set point and junior Dylan DeBoer converted a Burden pass to close the frame.
• Bryne pinned a Burden set to open the scoring in the final set. 
• Back-to-back points gave Hunter its first lead of the day.
• Hunter reeled off its longest run of the afternoon, taking advantage of three errors to take a 9-4 lead.
• The hosts pulled off a five-point run of their own, Bennett started the rally with a kill and a Burrell ace pulled Stevens within one. A Cyrus De Guzman attack error tied the score at 10.
• Hunter remained in front during the middle portion of the match, until Stevens tied the set at 20 on a Frenzel kill.
• Stevens forced another tie at 21 on a Bennett kill and the Ducks scored the final five points to close the match.

Volleys and Points (CSI)

• Stevens scored first in each of the match's three sets.
• Orlando set down a Burden set to open the scoring, as Stevens scored the first nine points of the opening set.
• A Shankweiler service error provided CSI with its first point of the match.
• CSI scored consecutive points on back-to-back Stevens errors to draw within 13-6. 
• The seven-point deficit would remain throughout the opening set, as the hosts scored three of the final four points to take the opening set. Kills from Shankweiler and Bennett bookended a Dumadag kill during the run.
• Freshman Ryan Byrne set down a Burden set to open the second-set scoring.
• A five-point run saw Stevens open a 7-1 lead. A double block by Bennett and Burrell and an emphatic Burrell kill sparked the run.
• An attack error briefly paused the Stevens offense, but Burrell set down a Burden pass to return the serve to the home team and with Bennett at the serve, Stevens reeled off seven straight points.
• Another extended run opened a commanding 17-point lead and Shankweiler pinned a Burden set to close the set.
• Bennett added to his kill total with the first point of the final set.
• Nine straight points saw Stevens take an 11-2 lead. Sophomore Kristopher Knight totaled an ace and three assists during the run.
• The teams had their first alternating point exchange in the final set, before Stevens scored three consecutive points to close the match.

Match Point (Hunter)

• Bennett set down a Nico Lambert set to close the match.

Match Point (CSI)

• Freshman Jack Bittker set down a Bennett set to close out the match. 

Inside the Numbers (Hunter)

• Stevens recorded 45 kills on 100 attacks with 16 errors (0.290). Hunter hit 0.072 and only recorded 24 kills on the day.
• Hunter committed six attack errors in each set.
• Bennett collected 11 kills and was the only player in the match to reach double figures.
• Junior libero Niko Lambert recorded a team-high eight digs. Hunter's Joseph Muir recorded a match-high 10. The Stevens libero has recorded five or more digs in 10 matches.
• Frenzel recorded a career-high eight kills on 15 attacks with just two errors. 

Inside the Nubers (CSI)

• Stevens held a 42-10 edge in kills. The Ducks hit a season-high 0.540 in the win and committed just eight attack errors. Stevens held CSI to a -0.155 hit percentage for the match, the lowest mark of any opponent this season.
• Stevens held the edge in aces (5-1), blocks (9-1) and digs (24-12).
• Sophomore Michael Snajder earned the start and recorded a season-high seven digs. 
• Shankweiler totaled nine kills on 12 attacks without an error, while picking up three assists, two aces, a block and five digs.
• Stevens never trailed.

Unsung Hero

• Sophomore setter Grant Burden totaled 64 assists over the two matches and has averaged 11.10 assists per set over his last three matches.

Up Next
No. 3 Men's Volleyball begins the United Volleyball Conference tournament Saturday, awaiting the winner of Friday night's quarterfinal match between No. 11 New York University and RV Elmira.
Stevens will be the hosting team for the entire tournament and all matches will be played at Hunter College.

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