ST. PAUL, MINN. – Senior Shelby Stewart broke the Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball program record with her 429th career block in the opening set against Northwestern-St. Paul as the Ducks fell to No. 18 St. Thomas and Northwestern Friday at Shoenecker Arena.

The Ducks dropped the opening match of the day 3-1 against St. Thomas 27-25, 25-18, 23-25, 25-20 and followed it up with a thrilling five-set match against Northwestern, who received votes in the latest AVCA Poll, falling 3-2 (25-15, 22-25, 29-27, 23-25, 15-6) and moving to 9-10 overall this season.

In the first match of the day for Stevens, Fran Egan led St. Thomas offensively in the win producing 14 kills as the Tommies moved 18-3 on the year.

The five-set match was highlighted for Northwestern by Jenay Fuglestad who registered 23 kills and Sydney Schwitters who produced 55 assists and 16 digs to help the Eagles improve their record to 10-7.

Stewart, a two-time First Team All-Empire 8 conference selection, registered eight blocks over two matches to give her 432 in her career to pass Maggie Kowalska, who previously held the school record of 428 total blocks.

For Stevens, sophomore Elizabeth Chu was stellar on the defensive end in both matches, picking up 32 digs in the first contest and following it up with a 27-dig performance versus Northwestern.

Seniors Casey King and Sara Hain led the way for the Ducks offensively. King delivered a pair of double-doubles on the day with 13 kills and 13 digs in match one and an 11-kill, 15-dig performance in the second game. Hain, meanwhile, opened the day with 14 kills against St. Thomas and tied her career-high with 17 kills while hitting .343 against the Eagles.

Volleys and Points (Match One)

• Stevens and St. Thomas traded points back-and-forth early in the opening set, with neither team by more than three points halfway through the set.
• Trailing 15-13, the Tommies began to pull away by rattling off six consecutive points to take a 19-15 lead.
• The Ducks did not go away quietly, however, staving off seven straight set points after falling behind 24-17 to tie the contest at 24.
• St. Thomas ultimately grabbed the set 27-25 thanks to a kill by Madie Kroehler and a service ace by Anna Scheffley.
• Holding a 6-5 lead in the second set, the Tommies created separation with a 4-0 run.
• Stevens clawed their way back into the set by cutting the deficit to one at 13-12 but could not get any closer as St. Thomas used a 6-2 run to re-extend the lead to five.
• The Tommies scored the final three points of the set to take a 2-0 edge in the match.
• In the third set, the Ducks scored seven straight points to take a 16-10 advantage.
• With the score 20-14 in favor of Stevens, St. Thomas went on an 8-3 run and cut the score to 23-22.
• The Ducks did not blink, winning two of the final three points to win their first set of the contest.
• In the fourth and final set, the Tommies came out firing, using a 6-0 run to take an early 12-4 lead.
• After a 7-2 Ducks' run made the score 17-14, St. Thomas put the set and the match away by taking home six of the final nine points.

Match Point (Match One)

• An attack error by King for the Ducks gave the Tommies their 18th victory of the season.

Inside the Numbers (Match One)

• In total, Stevens out-hit St. Thomas .174 to .151 while also holding a 7-4 edge in blocks.
• The Tommies found an edge at the service line, producing six service aces compared to non from the Ducks.
• Stevens had three players in double figures in kills as Hain led the way with 14 and King and Stewart had 13 and 11, respectively.
• Along with King, junior Kathleen Riegner also had a double-double with 45 assists and 23 digs in the match.
• Jillian Roumbanis also played a pivotal role defensively, picking up 17 digs.

Unsung Hero (Match One)

• Freshman Ava Smithing also had a solid match for the Ducks, adding seven kills and three blocks to her season totals.

Volleys and Points (Match Two)

• After falling behind 5-4 in the opening set, Northwestern created early separation with a 9-0 run to take a 13-5 lead.
• The Ducks were unable to get back into the set after the run, with the Eagles holding at least a seven-point edge for the remainder of the stanza.
• The two teams traded blows to begin the second set, with Stevens ultimately creating breathing room with a quick 5-1 run to make the score 14-9.
• The Eagles responded with a 5-1 run of their own to cut the deficit to one but could not get any closer as Stevens held on to win the set 25-22.
• The third set was a true back-and-forth affair with neither team leading by more than four points until Northwestern used a 5-1 run to take a 20-15 lead.
• The Ducks answered in a big way, going on an 8-2 run to give them an opportunity to win the set with the score 24-22.
• Northwestern was able to withstand three set points and take a late lead before ultimately winning the set 29-27.
• The fourth set was littered with mini runs throughout as Stevens used two separate 3-0 flurries to take a 14-11 lead.
• After trading 4-0 runs in the middle of the set, the Ducks found themselves tied with the Eagles at 19.
• Stevens closed late by winning six of the final 10 points and sent the match into a fifth set.
• The fifth set was dominated by the Eagles with Northwestern opening on an 11-1 run and cruising to a 15-6 victory.

Match Point (Match Two)

• Kally registered her 16th kill of the contest in the final set to seal the victory for the Eagles.

Inside the Numbers

• Along with Hain's career-high 17 kills, Stewart (13) and King (11) both produced double-digit kills for the second straight contest.
• Chu, Roumbanis, King and freshman Enkhsanaa Enkhbayar had double-digit digs in the loss for Stevens as Chu led the way with 27, Roumbanis and King each had 15 and Ekhbayar added 10.
• The Eagles held a .233 to .158 advantage in attack percentage while hitting .400 in the opening set and .375 in the final set.
• Riegner ran an efficient offense in the match, producing 44 assists while adding eight digs and a pair of blocks.
• The five-set match was just the second of the season for the Ducks with the other being a 3-2 victory over Scranton on Sept. 27.

Unsung Hero (Match Two)

• After producing nearly 90 assists in two matches on the day, Reigner increased her season average in assists per set from 8.05 to 8.30.

Chasing History

• After hitting .265 and .343 in the two matches on the day, Hain saw her season attack percentage dip to .377, just four percentage points behind her own school record of .381 for the best single season hitting percentage in program history.
• Hain's career attack percentage of .336, however, would shatter the school record of .284 set by Chrissy Dickinson from 2010-11.

From the Sidelines (Head Coach Annie McShea)

• "Today was full of clean, solid volleyball against two strong teams. We feel good about how we were able to execute and adjust when we needed to. We firmly believe we are just a few more balls dropping in our favor from making a big splash. We are constantly learning about ourselves, but now we have seen our potential and we know we are taking big strides towards some big wins in our future."
• "Shelby breaking the Stevens block record is such an accomplishment and everyone on the team feels grateful to have been a small part of that. Shelby has worked so hard for this team for the past four years, and I'm glad she has such a tangible achievement to show for it."

Up Next

• The Ducks will continue their Midwest trip with a matchup in Minneapolis, Minnesota against No. 16 Augsburg Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
• It is believed to be the first-ever matchup between these two programs in either school's history.
• Live stats and video will be available at StevensDucks.com.

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