BABSON PARK, Mass. (Oct. 16, 2021) – After falling behind early in each of the two matches on the day, the Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team mounted comebacks in back-to-back contests to knock off Wentworth Institute of Technology 3-1 before taking down Babson College 3-2 Saturday to close out the Babson Quad Tournament.

The Ducks rallied from down 0-1 against Wentworth to win 17-25, 25-18, 25-15, 25-14 before coming back from down 0-2 to defeat host Babson 16-25, 17-25, 25-21, 25-22, 15-5 and improve to 19-3 overall this season. Stevens actually had to rally from behind in all three contests in the tournament after falling behind 0-1 against Skidmore College Friday night.

The Leopards dropped to 14-10 this season with the loss while the Beavers, who received votes in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association top-25 poll, fell to 17-5.

Sophomore Liz Patterson led the way for Stevens as she totaled 28 kills across the two matches including setting a new career-high with 18 against the Beavers. The Midland Park, N.J., native hit .286 on the day with 10 digs and three blocks to help the Ducks continue their best start since starting 22-3 to open the 2016 season.

Stevens was fantastic from the service line in both matches as they registered 14 aces in each match. The Ducks now have 12 matches with double-digit aces this season, the most since also producing 12 such contests in 2016.

Senior Kathleen Riegner led the way serving for Stevens with seven total aces across the two matches while first-year Parker Adkins had six.

Volleys and Points (Match One)

• Leading 4-3 in the opening set, the Leopards struck first with a 7-2 run that featured kills from five different student-athletes to take an early 11-5 lead.
• Wentworth extended the lead to as many as 10 after scoring nine of 12 points to take a commanding 20-10 advantage.
• The Ducks made a run to climb back into things as they rattled off five straight points featuring two aces by Megan Dion after falling behind 23-13 to cut the deficit to 23-17.
• Wentworth did not allow Stevens to creep any closer, however, taking the last two points to win 25-17.
• The two teams traded points to start the second set until the Ducks were able to make the first run as they used a 9-1 run that saw kills by Adkins, Elle Maggio and Ava Smithing as well as aces from Adkins and Madison Sappia to take a 15-8 advantage.
• After the Leopards cut the match back down to a three-point deficit, Stevens re-extended the lead with a Patterson kill and a Sappia ace to make the score 20-15.
• The Ducks were able to keep Wentworth at arms-length the rest of the way as they grabbed a 25-18 win on an error to tie things up at 1-1.
• The third set was all Stevens from the jump as Riegner fired off three consecutive aces and Smithing put down back-to-back kills to give the Ducks the first six points of the stanza.
• Wentworth didn't have much of an answer from there as they were unable to get back within striking range for the remainder of the set.
• Leading 20-15, Stevens put the set away with a 5-0 rally capped off by an Adkins kill to win 25-15 and go ahead 2-1.
• The fourth and final set started similarly to the third as the Ducks raced out to an 8-2 lead thanks to kills from Maggio, Patterson and Dion as well as four Leopard errors.
• Leading 12-6, the combination of Maggio and Patterson teamed up to score five of the Ducks' next seven points to make the score 21-8.
• Wentworth answered by taking six of the next seven points to get back within eight at 22-14.
• Stevens put the final nail in the coffin, however, grabbing the last three points on two aces and a kill to win 25-14 and take the match 3-1.

Match Point

• Just as she did Friday night against Skidmore, Dion ended things with back-to-back aces as she found the court from the service line for the third and fourth times to seal the win.

Inside the Numbers (Match One)

• Stevens outhit Wentworth .257-193 in the match and held a slight 42-41 edge in kills.
• The .193 attack percentage for the Leopards is the third-highest total for any Duck opponent this season.
• Along with her four aces, Riegner also added 23 assists and a pair of digs.
• Elizabeth Chu continued her solid play defensively for Stevens with 17 digs across four sets. Her 5.03 digs per set ranks second in the MAC Freedom this season.
• Maggio led the way with a team-high 12 kills while Patterson added 10 and Adkins had seven.
• The Ducks held a huge 14-3 edge in aces and 5-1 advantage in total blocks in the match.
• After hitting .406 in the opening set, Stevens held the Leopards to under a .180 attack percentage in each of the final three including a .000 hitting percentage in the fourth.
• Conversely, Stevens above .240 in each of the last three stanzas including a whopping .562 attack percentage in the third set.

Volleys and Points (Match Two)

• Trailing 4-1 in the opening set, the Beavers used a 6-0 flurry fueled by three Stevens errors to take a lead they would not relinquish.
• With the score 9-7, Babson created some breathing room with a 6-1 run highlighted by a pair of kills from Ashley Gold to make the score 15-8.
• Leading 17-12, the Beavers extended the lead to as high as nine with a 6-2 rally to make the score 23-14.
• Stevens got back within seven at 23-16 but could not get any closer as Babson closed things out on back-to-back Duck errors to win 25-16.
• The second set looked familiar to the first as Babson again used an early 5-0 run to take the lead and did not look back.
• Leading 11-8, the Beavers used a 7-2 run that featured two kills and an ace from Allie Puccio to take an 18-10 lead.
• Babson cruised from there as a service error ended the set at 25-17 to put the Beavers on top 2-0.
• After trading blows back-and-forth for the majority of the third set, Stevens struck first with a 7-2 run that featured three Patterson kills to take a 14-10 lead.
• Babson was able to chip away at the deficit and tie things up at 19-19 late in the set looking to complete the sweep.
• The Ducks, and more specifically Adkins and Patterson, were up to the challenge though as they gave combined for four of Stevens' final six points as a part of a 6-2 run to win 25-21 and make the set score 2-1.
• Babson looked poised to take the fourth set early as Puccio, Maggie Murray and Laura Zuloaga teamed up for seven kills in the first nine points to give the Beavers a 9-4 edge.
• Trailing 11-7, Stevens went on their longest run of the weekend as they rattled off 10 consecutive points to take a 17-11 edge.
• In the 10-0, the Ducks got three Riegner service aces, kills from Smithing and Maggio and took advantage of five Babson errors to take the lead.
• Stevens was able to keep the Beavers at arms-length for a majority of the remainder of the set as they forced a set point up 24-16.
• Babson did not go away quietly, however, as they staved off six consecutive set points to climb back to within two at 24-22.
• The Ducks were able to finish things off one point later, though, when Cleo Shannon was able to rise up and block an attack attempt to send the match to a decisive fifth set.
• After falling behind 3-1 in the final stanza, Stevens flipped a switch and dominated.
• The Ducks rattled off six straight points thanks to three Adkins service aces, a kill from Smithing and a pair of double blocks by Smithing and Maggio.
• Leading 7-4, Stevens did not take their foot off the gas as Chu put down two aces and Dion, Maggio and Patterson teamed up for two blocks to send the set to a match point at 14-4.
• While the Beavers were able to hold off one match point, they could not stop another as Patterson found the court for a kill to give the Ducks a 15-5 win in the fifth and a 3-2 victory in the match.

Match Point (Match Two)

• Already with a career-high in kills, Patterson added one more to her ledger to give her 18 for the match on her 43rd swing.

Inside the Numbers (Match Two)

• Patterson hit .256 in the match and set a new career-best just one day after breaking it with 15 in the win over Skidmore Friday night.
• Babson held a slight 53-50 edge in kills but the Ducks gained the advantage in aces (14-11), blocks (8-5) and digs (52-50).
• Both teams were even with 48 assists apiece led by 26 from Riegner.
• Enkhsanaa Enkhbayar produced 15 assists, six digs and an ace in the win to give her 26 assists on the day.
• Chu again had 17 digs in the contest to extend her streak of matches with at least 10 digs to 19.
• Babson hit .220 in the match against the Ducks, the highest any team has hit against Stevens this season.
• After combining for a monstrous .510 attack percentage with just two errors in the first two sets, the Ducks held the Beavers to .058 in the final three sets, including a -.500 attack percentage in the fifth.
• The Ducks' 2.81 aces per set currently ranks 27th in all of NCAA Division III.
• The five-set win over the Beavers was the first five-setter for Stevens all season.

Unsung Hero (Both Matches)

• Smithing was extremely efficient throughout the day for the Ducks with five kills in each match for the Ducks. In total, Smithing hit .533 in the doubleheader with just two total errors.

Babson Invitational All-Tournament Team

• Madison Rockey, Susquehanna
• Rosina Esposito, Susquehanna
• Lizzie Herestofa, Susquehanna
• Elle Maggio, Stevens
• Liz Patterson, Stevens
• Cleo Shannon, Stevens
• Allie Puccio, Babson
• Laura Zuloaga, Babson
• Zoe Beals, Skidmore
• Riley Waggoner, Wentworth

From the Sidelines (Head Coach Brianna Jones)

• "What a fun day of matches. I really liked the way we rallied from some early adversity today. Especially against Babson when we rose to the challenge in the fifth set. I could not be more proud of our entire team."

Next Up

• After spending nearly a month on the road, Stevens will return to the DeBaun Athletic Complex Wednesday night as they take on Lycoming in a MAC Freedom matchup at 7:00 p.m.
• A win over the Warriors would give the Ducks at least a top-two seed in the conference tournament and a hosting spot in the semifinals.
• It is believed to be the first meeting between the two programs in history.
• Live stats and video will be available on StevensDucks.com.

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