PROVIDENCE, R.I. (January 25, 2020) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team avenged their 2019 loss in the NCAA Semifinals with a 3-1 victory over No. 14 University of California Santa Cruz and followed it up with a 3-0 sweep of Johnson & Wales Saturday in the JWU Quad at Wildcat Center.

Junior Ryan Byrne led the Ducks in kills in both matches and averaged 3.36 kills per set on the weekend to help Stevens remain undefeated and start the season 5-0 for the first time since 2017.

Stevens hit a whopping .360 in the 25-22, 20-25, 25-20, 25-17 victory over UC Santa Cruz and bested it with a .409 attack percentage in the 25-14, 25-14, 25-23 sweep of JWU. With the win over Santa Cruz, the Ducks have now won four of each of their first five contests against teams at least receiving votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Top-15 poll.

Maxwell Mednick led the way for the Banana Slugs in the loss with 10 kills and a .429 attack percentage while the Wildcats got a team-best seven kills from Jack Pincince.

Senior David Lehman and junior Jack Bittker joined Byrne in double figures in the win over UC Santa Cruz with 15 and 12 kills, respectively. The trio combined to hit .330 in the match while also producing eight total blocks.

Additionally, senior Grant Burden tied his career-high with 57 assists against the Banana Slugs.

In the contest against JWU, the Ducks nearly got a double-double from freshman Louden Moran as he produced 15 assists to go along with nine service aces.

The Ducks close the JWU Quad with a perfect 3-0 record after picking up a 3-2 win over Massachusetts Institute of Technology Friday and are one of just six remaining undefeated AVCA Top-15 teams.

Volleys and Points (vs. UC Santa Cruz)

• After trading points back-and-forth in the opening set, the Ducks found themselves down 15-13 halfway through the stanza.
• Stevens responded with a 5-1 run to take an 18-16 edge in the set and did not trail from that point on.
• The Banana Slugs were able to tie the contest at 19, but the Ducks scored six of the final nine points of the set to win 25-22 and take an early 1-0 lead in the match.
• UC Santa Cruz got off to and early 4-1 lead in the second stanza but could not hold the lead as Stevens scored five straight points after falling behind 10-6 to take an 11-10 edge.
• Santa Cruz answered with a 5-1 run of its own to re-take the lead at 16-13 and never looked back.
• Holding an 18-17 edge, the Banana Slugs rattled off six consecutive points to take a commanding lead and closed the set with back-to-back kills to win 25-20 and even the contest at one set apiece.
• Leading 10-9 in the third, Stevens used a 7-2 run highlighted by three kills from Byrne to extend the lead to six.
• UC Santa Cruz cut the deficit back to five on three separate occasions but could not get any closer as Lehman and Byrne combined to score five of the Ducks' final six points of the set.
• With the score 6-5 in the fifth and final set, Stevens managed to grab four straight points and swell the lead to five.
• The Ducks were able to keep Santa Cruz at arms-length for the remainder of the match as the Banana Slugs never got back within three points in what was ultimately a 25-17 win for Stevens.

Match Point (vs. UC Santa Cruz)

• Stevens turned to senior Jonathan Frenzel for his eighth kill of the contest to put the win away. Frenzel closed the match with a .583 attack percentage on 12 swings.

Inside the Numbers (vs. UC Santa Cruz)

• Stevens held Santa Cruz to a .242 attack percentage in the match, including a .048 percentage in the decisive fourth set.
• Along with Frenzel, Stevens also got eight kills from freshman Chris Varseveld who added eight blocks and hit .333 in the win.
• The Ducks found the court on service aces a total of six times, led by three from Bittker, compared to just three from the Banana Slugs.
• Senior Michael Snajder finished in double figures in digs for the first time in his career.
• Bittker narrowly missed on a double-double after posting 12 kills and nine digs.
• Stevens outblocked UC Santa Cruz 11-7 in the match.

Unsung Hero (vs. UC Santa Cruz)

• Snajder was solid on the back line for the Ducks, setting a new career-high in digs with 10 while not committing a receiving error and finding the floor his only attack attempt.

Volleys and Points (vs. Johnson & Wales)

• Holding a 3-2 edge in the opening set, Stevens went on an 11-3 run featuring three kills from sophomore Stedman Van Arsdale, two by Byrne and sophomore Jack Fyda as well as one apiece from Lehman and senior Andrew Amerman.
• Leading 14-5, the Ducks never allowed the Wildcats back into the set as they led by at least eight points the rest of the way and cruised to a 25-14 win.
• Moran showed off his serving prowess to begin the second set, registering seven total service aces in what was a 9-0 run to open the stanza for the Ducks.
• After JWU cut the deficit to seven at 16-9, Stevens responded with three straight points to re-grow the lead to double figures.
• With the score 23-14, the Ducks turned to Fyda for the final two kills of the set to win their second straight set with a score of 25-14.
• It was the Wildcats who came out of the gates hot in the third set as they took advantage of five Stevens errors to grab an early 6-2 edge.
• The Ducks responded, however, with five consecutive points highlighted by three kills from freshman Nathan Lancia to take the lead.
• Trailing 15-14, Stevens scored three straight points to re-take the lead and did not led JWU tie the match or take the lead the rest of the way to win 25-23.

Match Point (vs. Johnson & Wales)

• The Ducks took advantage of the seventh service error of the contest from the Wildcats to seal the straight set victory.

Inside the Numbers

• Byrne was extremely efficient in the victory, putting down eight kills on just nine total swings for an .889 attack percentage in just two sets played.
• Lancia was also fantastic in the win, registering seven kills and a .313 attack percentage.
• Stevens hit .409 in the match and .583 in the opening set while limiting JWU to a .119 overall attack percentage.
• The Ducks held a huge advantage in the service game, finishing with 13 total service aces compared to just one from the Wildcats.
• 10 different Stevens players registered a kill in the win including Moran who produced his first collegiate kill.

Unsung Hero

• Fyda led the Ducks in digs in just two sets played with four while also adding six kills and a .364 attack percentage.

Next Up

• Stevens returns to the court Sunday, Feb. 2 in the Stevens Tri-Match against Hunter College at 11:00 a.m. followed by a contest against Brooklyn College at 3:00 p.m.
• The Ducks have won each of the last seven contests against Hunter, including a thrilling 3-2 win over the Hawks on March 16, 2019.
• The last time Stevens matched up against Brooklyn College was on March 30, 2007, a contest the Ducks won 3-0.
• Live stats and video for each match of the Stevens Tri-Match will be available on StevensDucks.com.

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