FAIRFIELD, Conn. (January 18, 2023)  – Senior Christopher Varseveld matched a career-high with eight blocks but No. 4 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball dropped a thrilling five-set match to Sacred Heart University (18-25, 15-25, 25-17, 26-24, 11-15) Wednesday night in a non-conference matchup at the William H. Pitt Center.

First-year Phillip Bone had seven kills and sophomore Koby Sherman turned in an efficient six kills on nine swings with just one error for the Ducks, who dropped their first match of the year in falling to 3-1.

Carlos Santa Cruz had 16 kills and Patrick Mucherino added 15 for Sacred Heart, who improved to 1-2. The Pioneers have won three of the last five meetings between the teams, with four of the five matches requiring five sets. 

After forcing a deciding fifth set, the Ducks nearly completed the reverse sweep, falling by a 15-11 score. The final set was a series of three-point runs in the early going, with the Ducks taking a 7-6 lead when Bone set down a pass from senior Nathan Lancia. The Pioneers answered with five of the next six points to retake the lead for the final time. The Division I school closed out the victory by scoring three of the final four points.

After Sacred Heart hit .500 across the first two sets in building a 2-0 lead in the match, the Ducks responded by forcing 18 errors in holding the Pioneers to an even hitting percentage in the third set to climb back into the match. 

Statistically, the Ducks turned in their best offensive numbers in the four set, committing just one attack error in producing a .238 hitting percentage. A close affair in the fourth set, the teams combined for six ties before senior Louden Moran put the ball into an open spot in the Sacred Heart defense to reach set point. Senior Alex Franke joined Lancia in blocking an Ife Loverton attack to give the Ducks the fourth set and even the match.
 
Inside the Numbers

• Five different Ducks recorded an ace and interestingly, the Ducks only committed five service errors. Conversely, Sacred Heart had 13 aces, but a whopping 28 service errors.
• Behind Varseveld, the Ducks totaled 12 blocks, while Sacred Heart had 10.
• Senior Phu-Quy Ho had a team-high seven digs. Sophomore Jesse Knuckles added six.
• Moran dished out 24 assists. 

From the Sidelines - Head Coach Dan Buehring

• "It was nice to see the team fight hard after a slow start on our end. We saw a lot of our team compete tonight and improve a whole lot. This was a great opportunity to see high-level volleyball from Sacred Heart expose some issues we need to address. We look forward to learning from this and working hard to take that next step."

 
Up Next

• No. 4 Men's Volleyball hosts Elms College and No. 5 Vassar on Jan. 21 for a tri-match inside Canavan Arena.
• The Ducks are 4-1 all-time against the Blazers, including wins in the last two meetings. Vassar topped Stevens in four sets in the last meeting between the teams, snapping the Ducks' four-match winning streak in the all-time series. 
• Links for live stats and video are posted to StevensDucks.com.

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