HOBOKEN, N.J. (Sept. 4, 2021) – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team continued its hot start to the season with a pair of 3-0 sweeps of Hunter College and Muhlenberg College Saturday at the Stevens Invitational inside Canavan Arena.

The Ducks played stellar defense throughout the tournament as they held both Hunter and Muhlenberg to less than .050 attack percentage across the six sets on the day. Stevens defeated the Hawks 25-12, 25-22, 25-20 and followed it up with the clean sheet against the Mules 25-18, 25-13, 25-21.

A pair of student-athletes making their collegiate home match debuts on the newly designed Canavan Arena court had big days offensively for Stevens as sophomore Megan Dion racked up 10 kills against Hunter and her classmate Liz Patterson followed it up with 11 kills in the second.

Defensively, first-year Nicole Scribner got the start in the libero jersey in match one and was fantastic with a team-high 17 digs. Then it was the veteran's time to shine as senior Elizabeth Chu got the starting libero role against the Mules and registered 15 digs of her own.

The Ducks are now 3-0 for the first time since 2016 when they went 33-6, won the Empire 8 Conference and advanced to the Regional Final of the NCAA Tournament.

Volleys and Points (Match One)

• The opening set of the contest featured a 10-0 run that put the contest out of reach early.
• With Chu at the service line, the run featured a little bit of everything including three Chu service aces and single kills from Dion, senior Kathleen Riegner and first-year Parker Adkins to make the score 14-4.
• After trading points back-and-forth, the Ducks found themselves on top 20-12 and kept the Hawks off the scoreboard the rest of the way closing the set by scoring the final five points.
• The 5-0 run was started by three Hunter errors and ended with back-to-back kills from Patterson and Dion.
• The Hawks answered Stevens' run at the end of the first by starting the second in the exact same way, tallying the first five points of the stanza.
• After the Ducks climbed back to within two at 9-7, the Hawks again we able to create some separation with a 4-0 run thanks to a kill, an ace and a pair of errors.
• Stevens responded, however, scoring four consecutive points of their own thanks to kills from Adkins, sophomore Elle Maggio and Riegner.
• Trailing 18-14, the Ducks were able to tie the contest by using another 4-0 run featuring Maggio and Patterson kills.
• Jostling late, the two teams found themselves tied at 22 late in the second.
• Stevens was able to complete the comeback late by grabbing the final three points of the set, capped off by kills from Adkins and Dion.
• The two teams were nearly even to open the third and final set with neither side leading by more than one point through the first 14 points.
• Tied at seven, the Ducks made another long run, this time with Madison Sappia at the service line.
• Patterson put down two kills, Dion and Riegner added another and Sappia produced a service ace as a part of a string of six straight points to put Stevens up 13-7.
• The Hawks did not go away quietly, however, as they answered with a 4-0 run to climb back too within one at 14-13.
• Dion and junior Ava Smithing helped the Ducks keep Hunter at bay as they combined to score the next three consecutive points to push the edge back to 17-13.
• The Hawks did manage to cut the deficit to two a couple of different times late, but Patterson ensured they would not get any closer as she put down a kill to end the set and complete the sweep.

Match Point (Match One)

• Leading 24-20, Patterson was able to put down her ninth and final kill of the contest to give the Ducks another sweep to open the 2021 campaign.

Inside the Numbers (Match One)

• Stevens held an advantage in nearly every offensive statistical category, including a stark 41-22 kill edge and a 41-18 assist advantage.
• The Ducks finished the match with six aces, four of which came from Chu and three as a part of the 10-0 run in the opening set.
• Riegner was dynamite running the offense with 32 assists, but also scored effectively as well as she set a new career-high with five kills and hit .500 in the match.
• Six different Stevens' student-athletes finished with at least four kills led by 10 from Dion, nine by Patterson and seven from Adkins.
• The Ducks hit .257 in the match and held the Hawks to an .048 attack percentage.
• Through the first two sets of the contest, Stevens committed just six errors and tallied 26 total kills.
• A pair of first years were dynamite defensively as Scribner led the way with 17 digs and Adkins produced 15 of her own.
• Stevens was able to for a side out 54.5 percent of the time in the match while Hunter had just a 38 side out percentage.

Volleys and Points (Match Two)

• Leading 12-11 in the opening set, the Ducks went on a quick 5-0 run fueled by four Mule errors to create some separation.
• Holding an 18-14 lead, Stevens rattled off four straight points, this time on their own accord as Dion had a kill and an ace and Riegner and Adkins added kills of their own.
• A pair of sophomores, Maggio and Patterson, then put the opening set away as they tallied back-to-back kills to give the Ducks a 25-18 set victory.
• The duo wasn't done their, however, as they then combined to score three straight points at the beginning of the second stanza in what was a 5-0 run to give Stevens and early 6-2 edge.
• On top 10-6, began what was one of the most impressive stretches of volleyball of the day starting with a 6-1 run that featured a Riegner service ace, a Smithing kill and an Adkins kill to make it 16-7.
• After Muhlenberg climbed back within six at 19-13, the Ducks ended the set by scoring the final six points with all six coming off errors from the opposition.
• The third set started much like the second ended with Stevens scoring six of the first seven points after kills from Patterson, Maggio and Dion.
• Trailing 10-4, Muhlenberg seized the momentum for the first time in the match as they rattled off five straight points to cut the deficit back down to one at 10-9.
• Still holding an 11-10 lead, a pair of first-years got into the action for the Ducks as Cleo Shannon put down her first two career kills and Adkins added an ace as a part of a 6-1 run to stretch the lead back to six at 17-11.
• The Mules fought back once again, though, with a 6-1 rally of their own to pull back to within one.
• The Ducks created some breathing room once again when Adkins and Riegner combined for back-to-back kills and Patterson put down an ace to score four straight points and push the Stevens edge to 22-17.
• Muhlenberg was able to stave off a pair of match points late, but eventually Stevens was able to seal the sweep with a Patterson kill.

Match Point (Match One)

• Patterson was already four kills ahead of the next-best total on the squad but she was determined to push that to five as she found the court for her 11th kill of the match.

Inside the Numbers (Match One)

• The Ducks hit .219 and held the Mules to just .030 in the match, including a -0.100 attack percentage in the second set.
• Stevens put down 10 total aces in the match and now have reached double figures in aces in two of their three matches this season.
• Sappia, Scribner and Adkins all contributed to the success at the service line as all three had two aces apiece.
• Riegner was all over the court once again with 30 assists, seven digs and four kills, just one kill shy of her career-high she set in the day's first contest.
• Defensively, Stevens racked up 57 digs and allowed just 20 kills in the contest while siding out 59.3 percent of the time.
• The Ducks trailed just once in the entirety of the match when it was 2-1 Muhlenberg in the second set.
• At the net, Stevens was not blocked once in the match and had three blocks of their own.

Unsung Hero (Both Matches)

• Adkins was a consistent contributor throughout both matches with seven kills in the opening match and six more in the second while also producing a total of 24 digs across the two contests.

From the Sidelines (Head Coach Brianna Jones)

• "Today was a very good day for our team. I thought we built more trust throughout the day and trust is what helps our team win. We were able to build off each point, each set, each match to finish 6-0, so it was a good day."

Next Up

• The Ducks will open MAC Freedom play this Wednesday when they take on Arcadia University in the friendly confines of Canavan Arena.
• Stevens will be putting a rater impressive streak on the line in the contest as they have now won 58 consecutive regular season conference matches dating back to the 2012 season.
• The Ducks have won each of the last three matchups between the two teams including a 3-1 victory the last time they played on Oct. 13, 2018 in Hoboken.
• Live stats and video will be available on StevensDucks.com.

Facebook: "Like" Stevens Athletics         
Twitter: @stevensducks
Instagram: @stevensducks
#AllRise