HOBOKEN, N.J. (Sept. 22, 2021) – In a matchup of two of the last three remaining undefeated teams in MAC Freedom play, the Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team took care of business in a big way with a 3-0 sweep of King's College Wednesday night inside Canavan Arena.

The Ducks handed the Monarchs their first loss of the 2021 season 25-15, 25-17, 25-21, to improve to 10-2 on the year and 3-0 atop the MAC Freedom standings while King's dropped to 8-1, 1-1 in the MAC Freedom.

Stevens got a well-rounded attack from a large number of student-athletes in the win with 10 different players with at least one kill including sophomore Liz Patterson who was nearly unstoppable on the night with nine kills on just 11 swing and no errors for a remarkable .818 attack percentage.

Going into the contest, it was a highly anticipated matchup between a high-efficiency attack in the Monarchs and the solid defensive presence of the Ducks.

King's came into the match with the top team attack percentage (.225) in the MAC Freedom while Stevens started the night first in the conference and 19th in all of NCAA Division III in opponents attack percentage (.081).

The Ducks were able to get the better of the Monarchs in the matchup, holding them to a season-low .071 attack percentage.

More specifically, the Ducks were able to hold Monarch middle blocker Danielle Kitchner to a .143 attack percentage in the match after she started the match with the top attack percentage in all of DIII at .567.

Stevens also continued its dominance at the service line with 12 aces compared to just two for King's.

The Ducks have now won 61 consecutive conference regular season matches dating back to the 2012 season when they were members of the Empire 8 Conference.

Volleys and Points

• The two teams started the opening set evenly matched as neither was able to lead by more than three points nearly halfway through the stanza.
• The Ducks were the first to seize the momentum as they turned to first-year Cleo Shannon for a pair of kills and got a service ace from junior Enkhsanaa Enkhbayar as a part of a 5-0 run to make the score 17-11.
• Stevens did not mess around after that, scoring seven of the final nine points of the set thanks to kills by Shannon, sophomores Megan Dion, Elle Maggio and Patterson and juniors Riley Koehler and Ava Smithing to win 25-15.
• The second set started similarly to the first, but the Ducks went on the run a bit sooner this time after falling behind 8-6.
• Stevens got back-to-back aces from sophomore Elizabeth Banas, a kill by Koehler and a double block from sophomore Meghan Elder and Shannon to fuel a 5-0 run and move ahead 13-8.
• The Ducks would not trail in the set after that, keeping the Monarchs at arms-length before putting them away late.
• On top 17-13, Patterson nearly single-handedly put the set out of reach with a 6-0 run thanks to a kill and three consecutive aces by the sophomore to push the lead to 10 at 23-13.
• King's threatened slightly to climb back into the match with a 4-1 run but ultimately could not complete the comeback as a service error ended the set at 25-17 and put the Monarchs in a 0-2 hole.
• In the third and final set of the night, it was King's who made the early push as they took advantage of five Stevens errors as a part of a 6-0 run to move ahead 8-3.
• The Ducks fought their way back into contention halfway through the set with a 4-0 run fueled by three Patterson kills.
• Trailing 17-12, Stevens began its trek for the full comeback with an 8-2 run that saw two kills by Koehler, one from Elder, an Enkhbayar ace and four Monarch errors to lead 20-19.
• After King's briefly re-took the lead at 21-20, the Ducks finished things out on a 5-0 flurry that featured five consecutive Stevens kills by Shannon, Koehler, sophomore Elle Maggio and Elder to win the set 25-21 and sweep.

Match Point

• Maggio, who was also extremely efficient on the night, came off the bench late in the set and put down her eighth kill of the match to bring her attack percentage to an even .500 and seal the win for the Ducks.

Inside the Numbers

• Not only was Stevens able to hold King's to a .071 attack percentage, but the Ducks also hit .278 as a team.
• For the 12th straight match to open the season, Stevens had more kills than their opponents, nearly doubling up King's 42-22.
• Koehler and Elder both set career-highs in kill in the match with six and five, respectively.
• Much like her teammates, Shannon was also efficient all night with seven kills on just 14 swings for a .429 attack percentage.
• Senior Elizabeth Chu led the Ducks with 12 digs while senior Kathleen Riegner and Enkhbayar distributed the offense, combining for 31 assists on the night.
• The Ducks have now reached double figures in aces seven times this season in just 12 matches. For reference, Stevens had double-digit aces just 10 times in all of the 2019 season that resulted in a trip to the NCAA Regional Final.
• Not only did Patterson have a team-high in kills (9), but she also had a match-high four aces, three of which came consecutively.
• Stevens has now held every opponent it has played this season under a .200 attack percentage and 11 of the 12 under .150.
• Sophomore Sophia Schaefer made her collegiate debut for the Ducks in the sweep.

Unsung Hero

• She only had six total attempts across two sets on the night, but Elder made the most of them as she racked up five kills with no errors for an .833 attack percentage.

Up Next

• Stevens returns to action this Saturday in a tri-match at Haverford University with matchups against McDaniel College and Haverford. The Ducks play McDaniel at 2:00 p.m. and the Fords at 4:00 p.m.
• It is believed to be the first meeting between Stevens and the Green Terror.
• The last 12 matchups between Stevens and Haverford have resulted in an even split of wins 6-6 with the Ducks winning each of the last three including a 3-1 win in Hoboken the last time they met up in the 2018 season.
• Live stats and video will be available on StevensDucks.com.

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