CHESTER, Pa. (March 20, 2021) – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team hit .427 across two matches and sophomore Percy Bickford produced back-to-back matches with double-digit kills as the Ducks swept a pair of contests against Widener University 25-10, 25-12, 25-18 and 25-14, 25-18, 25-20 on the road Saturday.

On the day, Stevens committed just 20 total errors on 143 swings while holding the Pride to a .096 attack percentage to push their winning streak to four and complete the perfect week on the court.

Bickford was on fire in both matches as he racked up 12 kills with a .500 hitting percentage in match one and followed it up with 11 and a .625 attack percentage in match two. On the day, Bickford committed just three errors on 36 total attempts.

The Ducks were also balanced in their offensive attack as five different student-athletes had at least five kills in both matches, including Nathan Lancia who put down nine kills in the first contest and joined Bickford in double figures with 10 in the second.

The sweeps give Stevens total six points in the MAC standings and moves their average points per match to 1.875, good for fourth in the conference after starting the week in seventh.

Volleys and Points (Match One)

• In the first set of the day, the Ducks got a pair of kills from Alex Franke as a part of a quick 5-0 run to take an early 8-3 edge.
• Setter Louden Moran then started sharing the wealth offensively as Chris Varseveld, Bickford, Franke and Jack Fyda all put down kills in a 6-1 run to push the edge to 19-8.
• The close of the set looked much like the set overall, with Stevens scoring six of the final seven points capped off by a Franke service ace to win the set in convincing fashion, 25-10.
• With the score 8-6 in favor of the Ducks in the second set, Fyda went to the service line and promptly delivered 11 consecutive points that saw three kills from Lancia, two by Bickford (plus a pair of solo blocks), one from Varseveld and a Fyda a service ace to give Stevens a 13-point cushion.
• Stevens put the contest away late with a 5-2 run to close things out and win 25-12.
• The third set started with a Ducks 5-0 run capped off by a kill from Bickford.
• Widener responded, however, with five consecutive points of their own that featured three blocks to tie the contest at five.
• Stevens pulled away immediately once again by scoring seven of the next nine points in the set thanks to a pair of Lancia kills to make the score 16-9.
• After the Pride cut the score to 18-13, Bickford stepped up in a big way with a back-row kill as well as an ace to push the lead back to seven at 21-13.
• Widener threatened to climb back into the contest with three straight points of their own, but the Ducks did not flinch as they got a pair of kills from a pair of unusual suspects in Moran and Daniel Perun to win the set 25-18 and clinch the match 3-0.

Inside the Numbers

• Fyda and Franke were both extremely efficient in match number one with Fyda producing eight kills on just 11 swings for a .545 attack percentage and Franke adding six kills on seven attempts to hit .714.
• Moran helped the offense run like a well-oiled machine all day as he dished out 29 assists to go along with five digs and three blocks.
• Phu-Quy Ho was solid defensively for the Ducks as well, leading the way with seven digs while not committing a single receiving error.
• The Ducks dominated a number of statistical team categories, none more lopsided than a 42-16 edge in kills.
• Defensively, Stevens held Widener to a negative attack percentage in two of the three sets in match one with six total blocks and a 32-13 edge in digs.
• The .464 attack percentage in the match was the highest thus far this season for the Ducks.

Volleys and Points (Match Two)

• The Ducks came out of the gates firing on all cylinders in the opening set, using a 7-1 run that featured kills from Lancia, Bickford and Fyda as well as a Franke service ace.
• After Widener climbed within four at 11-7, Stevens got a Fyda service ace and kills from Bickford and Lancia as a part of a 5-1 run to push the lead to eight at 16-8.
• Leading 21-14, the Ducks decided to end the set quickly by scoring the next four points to take a 1-0 lead.
• Tied at two in the second, Bickford put down back-to-back kills as a part of a 5-0 run to make the score 7-2.
• The Pride climbed back into the set and cut the deficit to one by scoring seven of the next 10 points.
• Stevens was able to push the edge back to a more comfortable edge at 13-9 thanks to a kill by Bickford and two Widener errors.
• Holding a 14-11 lead, the Ducks went on a 6-1 run that featured a pair of dump kills from Moran and a Bickford service ace to make it 20-12.
• After Widener cut the deficit to four at 22-18, Stevens put the set away by scoring the final three points of the set on Fyda and Lancia kills and a Carver Weirick and Stedman van Arsdale double block.
• The third set of the second match was the closest of the day by far with neither team leading by more than two through the first 20 total points of the stanza.
• Trailing 9-8, the Ducks produced three consecutive kills by Varseveld, Lancia and Bickford as well as a Varseveld and Lancia double block to make the score 14-9 in favor of Stevens.
• Widener clawed their way back into the set at 16-15, but the Ducks pushed the lead back to four on a Varseveld ace and a pair of Pride errors.
• With the score 23-20 Varseveld and Bickford put the contest away with back-to-back kills to give Stevens their fourth consecutive sweep in MAC play.

Inside the Numbers (Match Two)

• Fyda and Varseveld were behind Bickford and Lancia in the kill column as Fyda produced six kills and Varseveld added five on just seven swings.
• Much like in the first contest, Moran distributed the offense effectively with 29 assists for the second straight match while also leading the team with seven digs and adding three kills.
• The Ducks hit .392 in the match and opened things up by producing a .526 attack percentage in the first set while holding the Pride to just .08 percent.
• With two service aces in each match, Fyda now has multiple aces in four of his last six contests.
• Bickford is becoming a double-digit kill machine in his second season on Castle Point as he has at least 10 kills in six of the eight matches of the season.
• Defensively, five different Ducks produced at least four digs led by seven from Moran and five by Ho.

Unsung Hero

• Moran ran an extremely efficient offense all day, as evidenced by the .427 team attack percentage, but was also effective all around with five kills, 12 digs and four blocks across the two matches.

From the Sidelines (Head Coach Dan Buehring)

• "We are beginning to execute at a higher level that I think would have us doing great things this year. I am excited to see if we can find consistency around this level of performance, and I look forward to the opportunity to test ourselves against some strong opponents coming up this week."

Next Up

• The first "strong opponent" for the Ducks is No. 14 Stevenson University with Stevens taking on the Mustangs Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. inside Canavan Arena.
• The Ducks have won each of the last eight matches dating back to 2003, winning the last matchup 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-22) on Feb. 2, 2019.
• Live stats and video will be available on StevensDucks.com.

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