SCRANTON, Pa. (October 28, 2022) – Junior
Liz Patterson posted her second straight double-double with 13 kills and 16 digs as the Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team defeated the University of Scranton 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 13-25, 25-22) Friday evening in a non-conference matchup at the John Long Center.
Sophomore
Cleo Shannon added 10 kills and junior
Meg Dion finished with six kills and three blocks for the Ducks, who won their third straight to close out the regular season 21-9.
Carah Vitkus led Scranton with a match-high 15 kills and Stephanie Margolies added 10, as the Royals fell to 19-10. The Ducks' victory snapped Scranton's three-match winning streak and gave Stevens a 3-2 lead in the all-time series. Interestingly, after the Ducks swept the Royals in the first meeting in 2005, the teams have then alternated wins and losses over the next four meetings.
Statistically, the Ducks turned in their best performance in the opening set, hitting .310 (13-4-29) in building an early lead. Dion was extremely efficient, connecting for four kills on five attacks without an error, while also recording a pair of blocks. Patterson converted a pass from senior
Enkhsanaa Enkhbayar to put Stevens in front 21-19, which sparked a string of three straight points, punctuated by an ace from graduate student
Kathleen Riegner. Consecutive kills from Dion and fellow junior
Elle Maggio closed out the frame.
The second set produced a similar back-and-forth pace as was the case in the opening set. Offensively, the Ducks turned in a nearly identical performance to their first-set output (13-4-32) and were able to take the lead for good in a similar timeframe. With the teams tied at 18, first-year
Vivian Lisboa blocked a Scranton attack to put Stevens in front and an ace from junior
Madison Sappia and three straight kills from Patterson gave the Ducks a little breathing room. Another ace from Riegner closed out the frame.
In as close as the first two sets were contested (14 ties and 11 lead changes), the third and fourth sets were the polar opposite. Vitkus knocked down an overpass to open third-set scoring and the Royals would maintain their lead in winning the set 25-13 to trim Stevens' lead to one.
However, the Ducks would take control of the final set from the opening whistle. Shannon converted a Riegner set to put the Ducks in front and the pair connected again on the second point, with Riegner putting a well-placed ball from Shannon into an open spot on the court. The Ducks opened as much as a four-point lead through the middle portion of the frame and reached match point on a Dion ace. Stevens successfully closed out the victory on an attack error after a lengthy rally that took more than a minute to complete.
Inside the Numbers
- Stevens held a 9-8 edge in aces.
- Each side totaled five blocks.
- Sophomore Bailey Axelrad finished with a match-high 24 digs. Already the ninth-best single-season total in program history, the New Orleans, Louisiana native needs 25 more to become just the sixth player in program history to reach 600 or more digs in a single season.
- Sappia has recorded nine digs in each of her last two contests.
- Stevens has won its regular-season finale in each of the last three seasons.
Unsung Hero
- Riegner finished with 22 assists and is closing in on 2,500 for her career. Doing so would make the Monroe, New York native the fourth player in program history to reach the milestone.
Up Next
- Women's volleyball will take to the Canavan Arena floor against either DeSales or FDU-Florham on Nov. 2 in a MAC Freedom semifinal matchup.
- Links for live stats and video will be posted to StevensDucks.com once the exact matchup has been determined.
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