UNION, N.J. (January 17, 2020) – Juniors Jack Bittker and Ryan Byrne and senior Grant Burden all produced double-doubles to lead the third-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team to a 3-1 victory over No. 12 Elms College in their season opener Friday night in the opening night of The Clash at Kean.

After dropping the opening set 25-21, the Ducks went on to win three straight sets 25-16, 25-20 and 28-26 to start the season with a victory for the second straight year.

Bittker, a 2019 AVCA Honorable Mention All-American, totaled a career-high 19 kills to go along with 10 digs for his third career double-double. Byrne, meanwhile, racked up 15 kills and 10 digs to finish with a double-double for the second time in his career. Additionally, Stevens also got a double-double from Burden who produced 40 assists and 13 digs to go along with two blocks in the win.

The Blazers were led offensively by Jeremy Torres who registered a game-high 27 kills and hit. 339 while also adding 11 digs.

Stevens has now won seven of their last nine regular season contests against ranked opponents dating back to the 2019 season.

Volleys and Points

• The contest lived up to its billing in the early going as the teams went back and forth in the opening set.
• Neither team led by more than three points through the first half of the first set.
• Trailing 18-17, Elms rattled off six consecutive points to take a 23-18 lead.
• Stevens answered by scoring three of the next four points but could not get any closer as the Blazers closed the door at 25-21 to grab the early 1-0 set advantage.
• With the score 8-7 in favor of the Ducks in the second stanza, Stevens went on an 8-1 run to take an eight-point edge.
• Elms cut the deficit to five at 20-15, but the Ducks recorded five of the final six points to tie the contest at one set apiece.
• The Ducks came out of the gates firing in the third set, opening the set on a 5-2 run.
• The Blazers responded with a 6-2 run take a one-point advantage in the contest, but Stevens answered right back with a 6-2 flurry of their own, making the score 13-10.
• After Elms cut the deficit to one at 19-18, the Ducks did not let the Blazers get any closer by scoring six of the final eight points of the set to win 25-20 and go up 2-1 in sets.
• Leading 4-3 in the fourth and final stanza, Stevens rattled off five consecutive points to make the lead six points.
• The Blazers did not go away quietly, going on a 5-0 run of their own halfway through the set to make the score 13-12 in favor of the Ducks.
• After Stevens re-extended the lead to four at 19-15, Elms made another run by scoring five straight points once again to take their first lead of the set.
• The Ducks were able to re-take the lead and attempted to put the match away at 24-23 and 25-24 but could not close the contest on their first two set point attempts
• Elms had an opportunity to send the contest to a fifth set with a 26-25 edge but could not do so as Bittker registered a kill and Fyda and freshman Alex Franke combined for a block to give the Ducks their third match point.

Match Point

• Leading 27-26 in the fourth, Stevens was able to take advantage of a bad set by Jeremy Torres to seal the season-opening victory.

Inside the Numbers

• The Ducks hit .259 overall as a team, including a whopping .450 attack percentage in the second set while holding Elms to a .170 attack percentage.
• Stevens was big at the net, out blocking the Blazers 11-5 led by Franke who produced six blocks in his collegiate debut.
• Sophomore Stedman van Arsdale was efficient on the night, producing six kills while also adding four blocks.
• Freshman Nathan Lancia also had a stellar first appearance with the Ducks, finishing with three kills, nine digs, four blocks and a pair of service aces.
• The victory for Stevens avenges a 3-1 loss last season for the Ducks, one of just six total losses on the year

Unsung Hero

• After hitting .388 last season, van Arsdale picked up right where he left off by producing a .400 attack percentage in the match on 15 total swings.

Next Up

• The Clash at Kean continues Saturday as Stevens will play in a pair of contests, starting with a 3:00 p.m. matchup against Penn State Altoona followed by a 5:00 p.m. contest against RV Kean University.
• This is believed to be the first meeting between Stevens and Penn State Altoona in men's volleyball.
• The Ducks have won five of the last six contests against Kean, but fell last season 3-0 on Feb. 1, 2019 in Union, N.J.
• Live stats will be available for both contests and live video will be available for the Kean contest on StevensDucks.com.

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