HOBOKEN, N.J. (Oct. 21, 2021) – Much as it has all season, the Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team used stellar defensive play to earn a perfect 3-0 sweep Wednesday against Lycoming College inside Canavan Arena to clinch at least a top-two seed in the MAC Freedom Tournament.

The Ducks held Lycoming to an .043 attack percentage in the match and pushed its winning streak to six straight matches as they improved to 20-3 overall and 6-0 in MAC Freedom play.

Stevens has now won 64 consecutive regular season conference contests dating back to the 2012 season after taking home the 25-19, 25-21, 25-21 win.

Senior Elizabeth Chu produced double-digit digs for the 20th consecutive match as she racked up 15 digs to go along with three assists and an ace.

Offensively, Stevens got an efficient performance from first-year Cleo Shannon and she had a match-high nine kills on just 18 swings for a .389 attack percentage.

Junior Ava Smithing and sophomore Elle Maggio added seven kills apiece as well as the Ducks remain one of just two remaining unbeaten teams in conference play this season.

As a team, Stevens did not allow Lycoming to take the lead after the halfway point of each set.

Inside the Numbers

• Stevens has swept all six MAC Freedom opponents it has played this season.
• The Ducks now lead the conference in hitting percentage, opponents hitting percentage, assists per set, kills per set, blocks per set and service aces per set.
• First-year Bailey Axelrad made her collegiate debut and racked up five digs in the win.
• From the service line, Stevens found the court with seven aces while Lycoming had two.
• Stevens held a big 41-24 advantage in kills, a 39-23 edge in assists and a 43-37 edge in total digs in the sweep.
• The Ducks have now earned 13 sweeps this season as the majority of their wins have come in straight sets.
• Stevens will now host at least the semifinal of the MAC Freedom Tournament by virtue of being a top-two seed.
• Lycoming hit .000 in each of the last two sets as they matched their kill and error numbers.
• Kathleen Riegner led the way with 23 assists while Enkhsanaa Enkhbayar also made it to double figures with 12.

Unsung Hero

• Playing in just a pair of sets, sophomore Sofia Schaefer was fantastic off the bench with four kills on just seven total swings and zero errors for a .571 attack percentage.

From the Sidelines (Head Coach Brianna Jones)

• "I'm fairly proud of how we came out and executed defensively tonight. It's nice to know we will at least be hosting the semifinal of the conference tournament but we want more than that for sure."

Next Up

• The Ducks step outside conference play once again this weekend starting with at 5:00 p.m. matchup against the Catholic University inside Canavan Arena.
• Stevens took home the only matchup between these two schools 3-1 in Hoboken in 2019.
• Live stats and video will be available on StevensDucks.com.

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