HOBOKEN, N.J. (November 9, 2019) – For the second time in the last three seasons, the Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team won a conference tournament championship after a 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 19-25, 25-18) victory over Eastern University to win the MAC Freedom Championship Saturday at Canavan Arena.

The Ducks have now won 11 consecutive matches and will advance to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the past four years. With the win, Stevens has won at least 20 matches in each of the past seven seasons and will take home the MAC Freedom crown in its first season in the new conference.

Senior Shelby Stewart was named the Championship Most Valuable Player after registering 12 kills, eight total blocks, seven service aces and hitting .414 over two tournament contests. The First Team All-Conference selection hit .353 with six kills and five total blocks in the win over Eastern.

The Eagles, meanwhile, got 18 kills each from Cecilia Bauer and Caroline Shelby as they fell to 21-12 overall on the year.

Additionally, the victory for Stevens snaps a streak of 11 consecutive MAC Freedom Tournament titles for Eastern. The Ducks handed the Eagles a pair of losses this season after Eastern lost just two matches prior to 2019 against conference competition since joining the MAC Freedom in 2008.

After dropping the third set of the match and falling behind 9-5 in the fourth, the Ducks rallied with a quick 4-0 run, capped by an impressive back-and-forth rally which ended in a kill from senior Sara Hain, to tie the contest.

Stevens went on to score 10 of the next 12 points in the set to clinch the victory and win their first conference tournament title since earning the Empire 8 Conference title in 2017.

Hain led the way offensively for the Ducks, registering 12 kills with a .435 attack percentage while freshman Allie Morton and senior Casey King both produced 10 kills apiece. Hain, the 2019 MAC Freedom Player of the Year, produced the 1,000th kill of the her career in the win, becoming just the second player in program history to have 1,000 kills and 300 blocks in a career.

Volleys and Points

• The Ducks came out of the gates hot, winning four of the first five points of the opening set to take an early lead.
• Holding an 11-10 lead, Stevens extended the edge to five with a 5-1 run.
• Trailing 23-16 late in the set, the Eagles began to climb back into the contest with a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to two.
• Stevens was able to respond immediately, grabbing the final two points of the set to take a 1-0 lead.
• The two teams traded points early in the second set with neither team leading by more than two points until halfway through the set.
• Behind 12-11, the Ducks were able to take the lead and create separation with a 5-1 run.
• After Eastern was able to cut the deficit to two at 20-18, Stevens scored five of the final seven points of the set to go up 2-0.
• In the third set, the Eagles were able to race out to an early 9-4 lead and never trailed in the set.
• The Ducks were able to get back to within two at 15-13 but could not get any closer as the Eagles rattled off three straight points to re-extend the lead to five.
• After trading points back-and-forth down the stretch, Eastern grabbed the last two to win the set 25-19.
• Much like in the third set, the Eagles jumped out to an early lead at 9-5.
• The Ducks responded, however, with a 4-0 flurry followed by a 10-2 run to make the score 19-12.
• Leading 21-17, Stevens closed the match on a 4-1 run and earned the conference title with a 3-1 win.

Match Point

• In the first opportunity for a match point, the Ducks turned to King for the 37th time and was rewarded with her 10th kill of the match to clinch the victory.

Inside the Numbers

• Along with posting 10 kills, King also racked up 10 digs to register her 11th double-double this season.
• Stevens hit .244 in the match while holding Eastern to .163 in the victory.
• The Ducks were fantastic at the service line as well, producing 11 service aces compared to just five for the Eagles.
• Stewart contributed on all five blocks on the day for Stevens as the Ducks were not blocked once in the match.
• Hain is now just the seventh player in program history to have 1,000 kills in a career. Stewart is just behind Hain with 950 career kills.
• Sophomore Kathleen Riegner had 38 assists in the match to make her just 15 assists away from producing 1,000 assists this season.
• Sophomore Elizabeth Chu led the way defensively for Stevens with 23 digs and no reception errors in the win.
• Morton was able to generate double-digit kills for the seventh time this season and the fifth time in the last nine matches.

Unsung Hero

• Riegner was all over the court in this one, supplying the Ducks with four kills, three service aces, four digs and to blocks while hitting .375 from her setter position.

From the Sidelines (Head Coach Annie McShea)

• "Eastern brought a big fight tonight, which we expected them to do. They hit powerfully and took us out of system quite a bit, but when it mattered most we performed and executed. Kathleen did a great job of spreading the offense around and it was a fantastic team win."

Next Up

• The Ducks will now await their NCAA Tournament fate which will be released on a selection show Monday at NCAA.com.
• The field will consist of 64 teams, starting with eight regional host sites consisting of eight teams each.
• Regionals will take place Friday-Sunday, Nov. 15-17. Regional sites that include a team with a no-play Sunday policy will be conducted Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 14-16.

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