SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (February 12, 2022)  – Graduate student Jack Fyda totaled 13 kills across two matches to lead No. 3 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball to a split with No. 1 Springfield College and Rivier University in a non-conference tri-match hosted at Blake Arena.

Junior Nathan Lancia totaled 10 kills and first-year Kody Sherman added 11 for the Ducks,who finished play 10-1. Stevens dropped the opening contest of the day to the top-ranked Pride (25-20, 25-14, 25-21) before rallying to sweep Rivier (25-23, 25-19, 25-22). The Ducks have dropped four straight to Springfield, but have topped the Raiders in each of the last 11 meetings, including two matches this season. 

Brennan Brandow finished with 18 kills against the Ducks to lead Springfield, while Rivier's David Smith set down 10 kills to lead the effort against Stevens. Springfield swept Rivier in the final match of the day to conclude play 10-0, while Rivier fell to 1-6. 

Against Springfield, the Ducks totaled just four more kills than errors and finished with a season-low 0.056 hitting percentage, while Springfield hit .485 (42-10-65). Fyda led the offense with seven kills and Sherman added six, but the Ducks had an even hitting percentage in the final two sets. 

An entertaining opening set between the two national powerhouses produced 10 ties and four lead changes. Springfield jumped on the board first, but neither side was able to string together more than two consecutive points until the midway point of the frame. A service error finally pushed Springfield in front for good at 13-12, sparking a run of three straight points as the hosts took control of the opening set. Back-to-back kills from Brandow and Jarrett Anderson closed out the first set.

Lancia knocked down a Louden Moran set to open scoring in the second set, but a service ace and an error gave Springifield a 5-3 lead; a lead that they would never relinquish. The Pride played with tempo and forced Stevens out of system, leading to seven errors at the point of attack. The Pride committed just three attack errors in the frame and finished with a remarkable 93%  sideout percentage (14 of 15). Springfield would score four of the set's final points to secure the frame and take a 2-0 lead in the match.

The final set saw Anderson score the first point of the frame to give Springfield an early lead. Moran had the Ducks' first kill of the set to draw the teams even at four. Sherman served up an ace to give the Ducks a 6-4 lead, but unfortunately, that would be Stevens' final lead of the contest. The teams traded points until the Pride scored three straight points to take a 16-13 lead. Fyda would notch a pair of kills to pull the Ducks within 21-18, but Brandow and Anderson set down Matt Lilley assists to close out the match.

Coming off their first setback of the season, the resilient Ducks quickly responded, sweeping Rivier to get back to their winning ways. 

In the opening set, consecutive errors gave the Ducks an early lead, but four straight points gave Rivier a 10-8 lead. Stevens battled back with three straight points, including a double block by Lancia and junior Conor Feulner to take the lead at 18-17, only for Rivier to jump back in front on a pair of Stevens attack errors. Junior Percy Bickford set down a Moran set and Feulner served an ace to push the Ducks ahead 23-21 and an attack error by Thomas Miller gave the Ducks the opening set.

It was Rivier that jumped out in front in the second set, scoring three straight points to take an early lead. The Ducks rallied to tie the frame at 7, with Feulner and Fyda combining for three kills. Fyda knocked down a Moran set to give Stevens its first lead and the teams exchanged the next seven points before the Ducks scored three straight points to take the lead for good. Fyda placed two perfectly-placed attacks into the Rivier defense to give the Ducks an 18-14 lead and Stevens scored the final four points to close out the frame, with Lancia closing out the frame with an emphatic kill.

The final set saw Stevens score five of the first seven points to take an early lead. First-years Brandon Rogers and Tyler Christensen joined senior Zachary Evans in collecting points in the early portion of the match. The Raiders would draw even at six and the teams then alternated the next eight points, typical of the back-and-forth play they've displayed over their two meetings. The Ducks finally took control of the frame with Evans knocking down a pair of Daniel Perun assists and Lancia set down a Perun feed to close out the match.

Inside the Numbers

• The Ducks and the Pride each recorded four blocks. Feulner joined Moran and Lancia in recording two blocks each.
• The Ducks recorded 37 assists on their 37 kills against Rivier. It's the first time since Mar. 16 at Eastern that the Ducks recorded an assist on every kill. 
• Sherman led the Ducks with three aces on the day. 
• First-year Jesse Knuckles totaled nine digs over the two matches.

Unsung Hero

• Perun had a team-high 19 assists and two kills in the victory over Rivier. The West Sayville, New York native has had three double-digit assist efforts this season.

From the Sidelines - Head Coach Dan Buehring

• "We did not rise to the challenge Springfield presented with their level of play. They were incredibly sharp. We have been working diligently with great effort but need to recognize the opportunities at our doorstep to learn, improve our process and push harder to find our best. I am proud of the grit, resilience, and hard work this team continues to exhibit each day and in the second match against Rivier. We have covered a lot of ground in a year and need to continue with certain components of our process that clearly work while reassessing others. This experience can be a great teacher to all of us, and we intend to respond to the opportunity with great discernment and intent."

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