CANTON, N.Y. (September 9, 2022)  – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team served 23 aces across two matches Friday in posting a pair of wins on the opening day of the 2022 North Country Classic.

Graduate student Kathleen Riegner had four aces and dished out 10 assists as Stevens swept hosting St. Lawrence University (25-12, 25-12, 25-19) in its opening match. Junior Meg Dion had four kills and six blocks as the Ducks defeated Lasell University 3-1 (25-12, 17-25, 25-16, 25-12) in the nightcap. Both contests were played at St. Lawrence's Ronald T. Burkman Gymnasium. 

The two victories moved the Ducks to 4-2 on the year and ran the team's winning streak to three. St. Lawrence dropped its second match of the day to Nazareth to drop its record to 1-5. Lasell began its day in Canton, New York, falling to Clarkson University 3-0 to close the day with a 2-3 record. St. Lawrence will play Lasell Saturday afternoon. Before today, Stevens and Lasell had never faced one another, while the meeting with the Saints was the fourth, but the first since 2014 and the first to take place in upstate New York - two of the three prior meetings were neutral-site matches and the 2010 meeting was played at Canavan Arena.

Individually, Vivian Zymeck was St. Lawrence's statistical leader against the Ducks, totalling nine kills, 11 digs and a block. For Lasell, McKenna McCool was the team leader, totaling eight kills, three aces and a pair of blocks.

After a dominant performance from the service line in Wednesday's sweep of Wilkes, the Ducks were equally as strong tonight, finishing with a 13-3 edge in aces. Including the 10 the team served up in the win over Lasell, since the start of the Brianna Jones era, the Ducks have produced 20 matches with double-digit aces.

Despite the final outcome, Stevens found itself on the wrong side of the score early in the match as the hosting Saints jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a pair of kills and an attack error. The Saints would open as much as a four-point lead before the Ducks mounted their comeback. St. Lawrence misplayed an overpass leading to a kill for sophomore libero Bailey Axelard and kills from junior Liz Patterson and classmate Elle Maggio drew the Ducks within one. The Ducks would finally jump in front on a kill from junior Sophia Schaefer, which was part of a 7-1 run that saw Stevens take a 19-11 lead. The Ducks would score six of the final seven points to take the opening set. In the opening frame, the Ducks hit a blistering .448 (15-2-29) and the Saints' hitting percentage of .156 would be their high-water mark of the contest. 

St. Lawrence jumped in front at the start of the second frame, scoring the first two points of the frame before Schaefer converted a pass from first-year Gabbi Roberts to put the Ducks on the board. Stevens appeared to be on the verge of breaking the set open with a five-point run to take an 8-5 lead. Patterson and Maggio recorded kills during the stretch and senior Ava Smithing recorded a pair of blocks.

The Ducks' lead was short lived, however, as the Saints scored four of the next five points to even the score at nine. A service error returned possession to the Ducks and sophomore Cleo Shannon set down consecutive kills to put the Ducks in front for good, sparking a 12-0 run. First-year Mallory Eder knocked down a Smithing pass and Riegner served up an ace to close out the frame.

The final set saw St. Lawrence again take the early lead, scoring the first four points before a service error and another Maggio kill put the Ducks on the board. The Saints kept the Ducks at bay, holding a three-point lead until Patterson and Dion set down passes from Roberts and junior Kristy Chen to tie the score at 17. An attack error put St. Lawrence back in front, but the Ducks scored eight of the next nine points to close out the sweep, with a Dion ace punctuating the victory. 

Defense was the story of the second match as the Ducks held the Lasers to a negative hitting percentage in the first and fourth sets leading to Lasell finishing under .100 (28-23-98) for the match. Conversely, Stevens committed just one attack error in the opening set and hit a match-high .444 in the pivotal third set. 

For the fourth straight set, Stevens found itself behind in the early portion as an attack error gave the Lasers a 1-0 advantage. However, the Ducks quickly took control of the frame by scoring the next eight points - seven of the eight came with Axelrad serving and the Ducks took advantage of consecutive blocking errors by Juliana Medini.

Lasell drew within four at 9-5, but the Ducks used a 9-1 to put breathing room between the teams. Schaefer and Shannon set down passes from senior Enkhsanaa Enkhbayar to close out the set. After an attack error on the opening point, the Ducks notched kills on 12 of their next 29 swings without an error. Smithing and Schaefer each had three kills in the opening frame and Patterson recorded four digs.

The second set saw Lasell score five of the first six points to take an early lead. An ace by junior Madison Sappia and a Maggio kill drew the Ducks even at six and Dion would serve another ace three points later to put the Ducks in front. 

Lasell went on its first lengthy run of the contest, scoring five straight points to take a 16-12 lead. A Shannon kill and a setting error pulled the Ducks within four, but Lasell scored six of the next eight points to win the set and even the match.

With the match tied at one, Smithing rejected a Sydney Katz attack to put the Ducks in front 1-0 - the only time Stevens scored first on the day. After a kill by Lasell's Emily VanHouten tied the score, a setting error and a Riegner ace put the Ducks back in front for good. 

The teams alternated two-point swings and the Ducks broke the set open with a 5-0 run with Shannon notching a pair of aces and Patterson serving up an ace. Stevens would open up as much as a nine-point advantage in the frame before closing out the set on a Dion kill.

The final set saw Stevens use a pair of runs to take an 11-5 run, with Riegner dishing out two of her season-high 16 assists to close out the stretch. Back-to-back blocks pushed the Ducks' advantage to 11 and Riegner recorded two aces as part of a four-point run that closed out the match. Riegner's final ace of the night came on match point.

Inside the Numbers

• 12 different Ducks recorded a kill across the two matches. 
• With all of the Ducks' offensive successes, they did not see a single player reach double digits in kills. Shannon produced the team high in both matches, notching eight against St. Lawrence and nine against Lasell. 
• Axelrad totaled 19 digs and ranks fourth in the MAC Freedom with 4.14 digs per set. Additionally, the New Orleans, Louisiana native did not commit a reception error in 23 chances. Her three kills against Lasell marked a career high. 
• Enkhbayar dished out 17 assists in the win over Lasell, while Riegner had 16. Roberts had a career-high 14 to lead the Ducks against St. Lawrence.
• The Ducks totaled more blocks than both opponents. The Ducks' 10 rejections against Lasell matched a season high.
• Stevens committed just 10 attack errors in the sweep of St. Lawrence - it's second-lowest total over the last two seasons.
• Eder finished with two kills in the opening match for her first collegiate points.

Unsung Hero

• Patterson finished the day with 34 reception chances and just two errors.

From the Sidelines - Head Coach Brianna Jones

• What a fun day! We got into a great groove and I am proud of how we came together as a team. I am very proud of our passers and defenders, who led us to victory!"

Up Next

• Women's volleyball shifts locations for the final day of the North Country Classic, which will be contested in nearby Potsdam, New York and hosted by Clarkson University.
• Stevens will open the day with a rematch of last year's NCAA opening round as the Ducks take on Middlebury. A contest with hosting Clarkson closes out the day.
• Links for live stats and video are available on StevensDucks.com.

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