WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. (October 19, 2022) – In a balanced offensive attack, 11 different players recorded at least one kill as the Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team swept Lycoming College (25-13, 25-14, 25-20) Wednesday night in a MAC Freedom matchup at Lamade Gymnasium.
Junior
Liz Patterson had a team-high eight kills and classmate
Elle Maggio added six for the Ducks, who won their second straight to move to 17-6 on the year and a perfect 6-0 in the MAC Freedom. Since moving into the conference prior to the 2019 season, the Ducks are 20-1 in league matches. The Ducks have swept Lycoming in both matches in the series.
Cameron Upcraft had a team-high five kills to lead Lycoming, who dropped their fifth straight match to fall to 11-1 on the year and to 2-5 in MAC Freedom play. The Warriors are a game-and-a-half behind FDU-Florham for the final postseason berth.
A balanced offensive attack saw the Ducks hit at least .235 in each set in securing their seventh sweep of the season. Conversely, Stevens held Lycoming under .100 in each of the first two sets and didn't allow the Warriors to connect for more than seven kills in any single set.
Stevens, who scored first in each of the first two sets, jumped on the board in the opening set on a kill by Maggio and a blocking error. The Warriors would rally to take a slim 6-5 lead before a service error drew the Ducks even. Consecutive attack errors put the Ducks in front for good and a 6-0 run broke the set open. The Ducks would score 10 of the final 13 points to claim the opening set.
Junior
Meg Dion set down a feed from graduate student
Kathleen Riegner to open second-set scoring. A ball-handling error produced a 6-4 lead for the Warriors, but the Ducks responded with a 6-1 run to take control of the frame. Junior
Sophia Schaefer knocked down a pass from senior
Enkhsanaa Enkhbayar to spark the run and first-year
Paulina Miller served an ace to draw the teams even. A double block from Dion and Maggio put the Ducks in front for good and three straight Lycoming errors gave the Ducks a decisive 25-14 margin in the set to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The final set saw the teams combine for nine ties and five lead changes. Lycoming jumped on the board first on an Upcraft kill, but the Ducks reeled off the next four points, including an ace from junior
Madison Sappia to take a 4-1 lead. Trailing by one, first-year
Gabbi Roberts and senior
Ava Smithing combined for the next six of the next seven points to put the Ducks in front for good. Senior
Riley Koehler knocked down her third kill of the match to even the score, which was followed by consecutive kills by Smithing. Roberts then served back-to-back aces and a double block from Smithing and first-year
Vivian Lisboa, preceded Roberts' lone kill of the match to close out the sequence. Lycoming went on a 6-1 run to threaten a possible fourth set, but the Ducks scored the final four points of the match to secure the victory.
Inside the Numbers
- The Ducks recorded 34 assists on 37 kills. Riegner finished with a match-high 16.
- Each side totaled five blocks. Lisboa finished with a team-high three.
- Sappia finished with four of the Ducks' 13 aces. The Ducks have notched 10 or more nine times this season, including four with 13.
- Koehler's three kills marked a season high.
Up Next
- Women's volleyball turns to non-conference play, welcoming Kean, Stockton, No. 6 NYU and No. 14 Wesleyan to campus for the two-day Stevens Invitational, which gets underway on Oct. 21.
- The event kicks off on Friday evening with the Ducks taking on Kean in the first meeting between the teams since 2018. Interestingly enough, each of the last four prior meetings between the teams has been in Canavan Arena.
- Links for live stats and video for all seven matches of the Stevens Invitational are available on StevensDucks.com.
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