HOBOKEN, N.J. (January 30, 2022)  – No. 8 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball swept New Jersey City University (25-15, 25-19, 25-19) and rallied to topple New Paltz in four sets (20-25, 25-20, 25-15, 25-21) Sunday in a non-conference tri-match at Canavan Arena. 

First-year Koby Sherman totaled 28 kills and graduate student Jack Fyda added nine for the Ducks, who moved to 5-0 to start the year for the second time in the last three seasons. 

Jonathan Andrews had a match-high 14 kills against the Ducks to lead the Gothic Knights, who closed the day 2-2. Tim Drake finished with nine kills to lead New Paltz, who defeated NJCU in the neutral-site match to close the day 5-3. With the victories, the Ducks moved to a perfect 19-0 all-time against NJCU and to 25-12 all-time against New Paltz. 

The Ducks opened the day with a sweep of the Gothic Knights, holding them to just 15 points in the opening set and forcing them into a 0.000 hitting percentage in the final set to seal the victory.

Sherman opened the match by emphatically setting down a Louden Moran set to give the Ducks an early advantage. The Sunnyvale, California native finished with 11 kills and was the only Duck to reach double figures. A total of 13 Ducks recorded at least one kill, including senior Zachary Evans and sophomore Jacob Stark, who had their first kills of the season, and first-years Brandon Rogers and Tyler Christensen, who each registered their first collegiate points. 

NJCU would grab its only lead of the match at 4-3 following an attack error before Stevens reeled off five straight points with Moran at the serve, including consecutive aces, to take an 8-4 lead. 

The Gothic Knights pulled within 8-7 before the Ducks seized control of the frame with five consecutive points, with junior Chris Varseveld capping the run with a perfectly-placed ball into the middle of the court to give Stevens an 18-11 lead. Stevens would score six of the final eight points to win the first set. 

The second set saw the teams alternate points in the early portion of the match, before the Ducks reeled off three in a row to jump in front for good, 11-8. Sherman was especially effective in this frame, connecting on seven of his 11 attacks for a 0.545 hitting percentage. The Ducks also drew the Gothic Knights into 12 errors in the set, including three at the net. After not recording a block in the opening set, the Ducks blocked two in the second set and five in the final set to finish the match with seven.

In the final set, the Ducks scored four of the first five points to race out to an early lead. The sequence included an ace by Evans and a double block from senior Daniel Perun and first-year Hunter Schmidt. Consecutive kills by Andrews brought NJCU to 4-4, but the Ducks reeled off seven straight points to break the set open. Schmidt recorded three blocks during the set-changing stretch, stuffing Brandon DaSilva on his own, and then teaming with junior Alex Franke for an additional two. Consecutive attack errors by Andrews closed out the match.  

Formerly annual opponents in the United Volleyball Conference, the Ducks and the Hawks engaged in a back-and-forth opening two sets, with the teams combining for 11 ties and four lead changes in the frames, that produced identical 25-20 scores. New Paltz claimed the first set, hitting 0.375, which would be the Hawks' highest total of the match. Conversely, after struggling from the point of attack in the opening set, the Ducks' hitting percentage increased throughout the match, culminating in a 12-4-27 (0.296) in the final set.

Trailing in a match for just the second time this season, the Ducks benefitted from 19 New Paltz errors in the second set as Stevens evened the match by winning the second set. Although Stevens jumped in front early in the frame on a Sherman kill and a Moran ace, New Paltz rallied with five straight points to take a 6-4 lead. 

Following a similar pattern from the opening frame, the teams continued to exchange points throughout the frame, with neither side opening more than a two-point lead until the Ducks reeled off three straight points sparked by a Sherman kill to take a 16-13 advantage. New Paltz responded with a run of its own to draw even at 16, but the Ducks turned up the pressure and scored four of the next five points to take a 21-17 lead. Varseveld began the stretch with an ace and Fyda blocked two attacks to propel the defense. Sherman would set down two Moran sets to close out the set and even the match.

The momentum the Ducks gained from pulling away late in the second set carried over to the third as Stevens scored six of the first seven points with junior Connor Feulner at the serve to take early control of the frame. Feulner recorded a pair of aces in the stretch, while Sherman added a pair of kills. 

Stevens maintained its advantage and then used another six-point run to take a commanding 16-8 lead. New Paltz committed three errors during the run and Fyda knocked down a pair of Moran assists. Moran finished with 29 assists against the Hawks after having 12 against the Gothic Knights. A third 6-0 run pushed the Ducks' advantage to 13 and Sherman and Moran again hooked up to close out the frame. 

The final set played more like the first two than the third. The teams combined for seven ties and three lead changes after the previous frame only had one of each. With the teams tied at 13, Stevens strung together five straight points, the longest run of the set, to open an 18-13 lead. After New Paltz cut into the Stevens lead, junior Percy Bickford set down a Moran set between a pair of New Paltz errors to push the Ducks' lead to four  and then set down another Moran set to close out the match. Those were Bickford's only kills of the match.

After New Paltz hit nearly 0.400 in the opening set, the Ducks held New Paltz to 0.138 in the final set and held the team's leading scorer, Pat Wing, to just five kills and a pair of blocks.

Inside the Numbers

• Perun totaled a season-high 13 assists in the victory over the Gothic Knights.
• Feulner finished with five kills, four aces and five blocks. The aces marked a career high.
• The Ducks hit a blistering 0.667 (14-2-18) in the opening set against NJCU. 
• The Ducks held NJCU under 0.200 in all three sets.
• Stevens and New Paltz each had 38 kills.
• First-year Jesse Knuckles had a match-high eights digs against the Hawks. It's the fourth time in five matches that the Gurnee, Illinois native has totaled eight digs.

Unsung Hero

• Sophomore Carver Weirick totaled 24 receptions with just two errors across the two matches. The San Marino, California native also totaled 15 digs, including 10 against NJCU, which was the highest total by any player in either of the Ducks' two matches.

From the Sidelines - Head Coach Dan Buehring

• "New Paltz played us tough, right out of the gate, and put us on our heels. Caps off to them for the fight they brought."
• "It was nice to see our team find a way to win while we were off balance. There are a lot of things we can do well and while we didn't spend a lot of time consistently doing those things, it was good to see our group find a way to win. Our response to a slow start was just excellent in my opinion."

Up Next

• No. 8 Men's Volleyball heads to Dallas, Pennsylvania to open Middle Atlantic Conference play against Misericordia on Feb. 2.
• The Ducks hold a 2-1 advantage in the all-time series, with the teams alternating their three prior meetings.
• Links for live stats and video are available on StevensDucks.com. 

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