HOBOKEN, N.J. (Oct. 28, 2021) – On a night where seniors Elizabeth Chu and Kathleen Riegner were honored for their stellar careers on the court, the veteran duo showed out once again as they led the Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep of FDU-Florham Thursday night inside Canavan Arena.

With just one regular season match remaining, the Ducks took down the Devils 25-14, 25-19, 25-12 to improve their overall record to 23-5 and finish MAC Freedom play with a 6-1 record to lock up the #2 seed in the MAC Freedom Tournament. Stevens will take on Misericordia University at home Wednesday night with a spot in the conference title match on the line.

In her final regular season contest inside Canavan Arena, Chu did what she has done throughout her career, racking up 16 digs and also added a kill for good measure. The kill for Chu was just the second of her career at home and the first since Oct. 17, 2018 against Hunter University.

Riegner, meanwhile, filled up the stat sheet with 26 assists, five digs, four aces, two blocks and a kill to contribute to 32 of the Ducks' 55 total offensive points on the night. The Monroe, N.Y., native is now just 67 assists away from becoming just the sixth student-athlete in program history to amass 2,000 career assists.

Offensively, sophomore Liz Patterson was extremely efficient in the win as she put down 11 kills on just 22 swings with zero attack errors for a .500 attack percentage. Junior Ava Smithing was also fantastic in the contest as well, racking up seven kills on 14 attempts to hit .429.

As a team, Stevens held a huge 12-2 advantage in aces against the Devils who came into the contest ranked second in the MAC Freedom with 2.56 aces per set. The Ducks currently rank fifth in all of NCAA Division III with 268 service aces this season.

The highlight of the night for the senior class came in the second set with the Ducks on top 6-4 as Riegner and Chu produced back-to-back kills for the first time in their collegiate careers.

Inside the Numbers

• The Ducks have reached double-digits in aces 15 time this season, the most in a single season since at least 2010.
• Stevens out-blocked FDU-Florham 5-0, making it the second time this year the Ducks were not blocked in a match.
• Sophomore Elle Maggio was third on the team in kills with six while first-years Parker Adkins and Cleo Shannon added five and four, respectively.
• First-year Bailey Axelrad produced her second straight match with double-digit digs, this time producing 10 across three sets.
• The Ducks have been a top-two two seed every season since 2011 dating back to their time in the Empire 8 Conference.
• Adkins was solid from the service line with four aces and also added seven digs and an assist in the win.
• In the first two sets of the contest, Stevens hit .344 and ended the match hitting .287 while holding FDU-Florham to just .031 and a negative attack percentage in the first and third sets.
• The Ducks dominated nearly every statistical category with a 38-24 edge in kills, a 5-0 advantage in blocks, a 35-22 edge in assists and a 45-41 advantage in digs.
• The sweep is the 15th of the season for Stevens and helps them improve to 8-2 at home on the year.

Unsung Hero

• Sophomore Megan Dion was solid all night, leading the Ducks with three blocks while adding three kills and an ace. Dion now has at least two blocks in her last 11 matches.

From the Sidelines (Head Coach Brianna Jones)

• "It was good to see us get back on our game tonight. With the way this past week went, I was happy to see us get back to what we do and play Stevens volleyball."
• "I can't even describe the impact Kathleen and Lizzie have had on the program. They've left their legacy here already and it's so exciting to watch. We're obviously excited to have Kathleen back and we think there's a chance we can get Lizzie to come back in some capacity."

Up Next

• Stevens closes out the regular season Saturday when they travel to St. David's, Pa., to take on Eastern University at 2:00 p.m. in a final tune-up before the conference tournament.
• The Eagles have defeated the Ducks six times in 10 all-time matchups, but Stevens has won each of the last three contests including a 3-1 win in the MAC Freedom Championship in 2019.
• Live stats and video will be available on StevensDucks.com.

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