FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (November 10, 2022)  – First-year Vivian Lisboa finished with eight kills and six blocks as the Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team swept Manhattanville College (25-19-, 25-23, 25-16) Thursday in an NCAA first round match hosted by the University of Mary Washington at its William M. Anderson Center.

Junior Liz Patterson had a team-high 11 kills and classmate Elle Maggio totaled six kills and four blocks for the Ducks, who used a dramatic comeback in the second set to win their sixth straight and improve to 24-9. The victory was the first for head coach Brianna Jones in the NCAA Championship and marked the sixth time in the last seven trips to the national tournament that the Ducks have won at least one match.

Ayla Ruiz matched Patterson with 11 kills to lead Manhattanville, who closed its 2022 campaign at 24-7. The victory over the Valiants was the second for Stevens this season, who have won all three meetings between the teams in the 2000's.

Stevens scored the first three points of the match to take an early lead, culminating with an ace by graduate student Kathleen Riegner. The Ducks reeled off five straight points to open a comfortable six-point lead after back-to-back kills by Lisboa and Patterson and then pushed the lead to eight after a Riegner ace and another Patterson kill. Stevens would lead the opening set wire-to-wire and the Ducks closed out the frame with a Patterson kill and a Ruiz attack error.

The second set saw Manhattanville jump in front with an early 5-1 run and the Valiants extended their lead to seven at 10-3 following consecutive Stevens errors. The Ducks found themselves down by 10 after a kill by Sofia Morales, but the Ducks turned up the pressure and began to claw back into the set with a 7-1 run that saw the Ducks total three blocks, two aces and two kills to pull within four. Stevens extended the run even further with four of the next five points to trim the deficit to one (17-16) and then took a slim lead at 19-18 after a kill by Lisboa on a Manhattanville overpass.

The one-point lead would prove to be short-lived, as a ball-handling error and a Morales kill put Manhattanville back in front at 22-21. However, the resilient Ducks quickly responded with Patterson knocking down a pass from junior Madison Sappia to draw the teams even. Kills from junior Meg Dion and Maggio brought Stevens to set point and sophomore Cleo Shannon, who finished the day with seven kills, converted a Riegner set to close out the frame.

The early portion of the final set again saw Manhattanville take charge in the early going, scoring three of the first four points to grab a 3-1 lead. The turning point of the set came after Maggio's second kill of the frame, which sparked a 9-0 run that put Stevens in front for good (15-6). Lisboa rejected an attack by Alejandra Figueroa to bring the Ducks to match point and an attack error closed out the sweep. 

Each of the Ducks' last five NCAA opening-round victories have been sweeps.

Inside the Numbers

• Stevens finished with a .252 attack percentage, finishing the match by hitting .256 in the final set. Conversely, the Ducks held Manhattanville into a lower attack percentage as the match progressed; the Valiants hit .209 in the opening set, but finished at .053.
• The Ducks finished with a 10-1 edge in blocks - the second time this season that a team has totaled just one block against the Ducks' attack.
• Stevens finished with 11 aces - four from first-year Gabbi Roberts, three from Riegner, two by Patterson and one each from Sappia and Dion. Manhattanville had three.
• Sophomore Bailey Axelrad had a match-high 20 digs. She's on pace to finish with the fifth-most in any single season in program history.

Unsung Hero

• Lisboa has totaled 20 kills (on 39 swings - .308 attack percentage) with 19 blocks in the postseason. 

From the Sidelines - Head Coach Brianna Jones

• "I loved our grit today! The comeback was awesome to watch. It was amazing to sit back and enjoy the ride as a coaching staff, while the team found a way to execute everything we prepared for."

Up Next

• Women's volleyball will face Johns Hopkins Friday at 4:30. The Ducks and the Blue Jays have met once in the NCAA Tournament, when Stevens fell to hosting Johns Hopkins in the 2019 regional final. 

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