HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 9, 2022) – The fourth-ranked Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team defeated No. 13 Messiah University by a score of 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-20) Saturday to win the Middle Atlantic Conference Championship in a thrilling match at Canavan Arena.
 
First-year Koby Sherman paced Stevens with 17 kills and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Sherman totaled a career-high 26 kills in the semifinal victory over Arcadia and totaled a team-high 43 kills throughout the tournament. 
 
The victory secured the Ducks' first-ever MAC Championship and the program's first conference title since 2018, as the team improved to 28-3 on the season and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Stevens has now won 17-straight matches and was a perfect 13-0 in conference play this season. Messiah fell to 20-6 on the season with the loss and Stevens' victory evened the all-time series at two.
 
Behind Sherman, graduate student Jack Fyda finished with six kills and junior Percy Bickford finished with five kills. As a team, the Ducks hit .319 and committed just two attack errors across the final two sets (22-2-40).
 
The first set was highly contested as play went back and forth, with the teams combining for 11 ties and six lead changes. The Ducks took an early lead 5-2 lead to start, but the Falcons battled back and led 19-15 late. Stevens then went on a quick 5-1 run to tie the match at 20, with kills from Fyda, junior Connor Feulner and Sherman helped put away the set at 25-23.
 
The second set was all Stevens. The Ducks jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and never looked back, leading from start to finish. Their lead in the set never shrunk smaller than four and grew to as large as ten at the end of the frame with the score being 25-15. The serve-receive proved valuable in the second set, with the Ducks collecting four aces - two each from Fyda and Sherman - while Messiah only had one ace and four service errors. The Ducks finished the frame with a remarkable 81% sideout percentage.
 
The third went similarly to the second. Messiah scored the first point to take a 1-0 lead and then Stevens never relinquished the lead again, cruising to a 25-20 win.
 
Junior Mason Nissley paced the Falcons with 10 kills. First-year Jacob Hamm and first-year Ryan Givens finished him with seven kills each.
 
Junior Louden Moran led Stevens with 29 assists and eight digs. Sophomore Pho-Quy Ho added seven digs and junior Chris Varseveld led the team with five blocks which was a season-high.
 
Up Next: The Ducks will wait for the NCAA Selection show on Monday, Apr. 11 to find out who their opponent will be in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
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