HOBOKEN, N.J. (January 28, 2023) – Senior Percy Bickford set down 15 kills and classmate Christopher Varseveld finished with six kills and three blocks as No. 3 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball defeated No. 2 Springfield College in four sets (25-23, 25-12, 14-25, 25-23) Saturday in the opening match of a non-conference tri-match at Canavan Arena.

First-year Phillip Bone had seven kills and six digs and senior Louden Moran finished with a double-double of 31 assists and 10 digs for the Ducks, who also swept Ramapo College (25-21, 25-18, 25-19) to wrap up the day. Senior Alex Franke had 13 kills and classmate Nathan Lancia added 12 as the Ducks won for the fourth straight time to improve to 7-1 on the year.

The thrilling four-set victory over the Pride snapped Springfield's four-match winning streak in the all-time series. The Ducks' last victory over the Pride came in the 2015 national championship match.

Elsewhere, No. 1 Carthage fell to both No. 4 Juniata and No. 9 Messiah over the last two days, likely resulting in a new No. 1 team in the country when the new American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll is released by the organization on Jan. 31.

Jarrett Anderson had a match-high 25 kills for Springfield and Noah Weislo added 10 as the Ducks handed the Pride their first loss of the year. Springfield would later sweep Ramapo to move to 4-1 on the young season. 

Andrew Finnegan had 14 kills against the Ducks to lead Ramapo, who wrapped up the day 2-3. The Ducks have won the last nine meetings with the Roadrunners, with six coming via sweep. The contest marked the first between the teams in Canavan Arena since 2015.

In a matchup of two of the top-ranked programs in Division III men's volleyball, the first set did not disappoint. The teams combined for 11 ties and three lead changes and neither side strung together more than three consecutive points. After drawing even at 21 after an ace from junior Carver Weirick, the Ducks reeled off four of the final six points, with kills coming from three different players, to grab the opening set. 

The second set proved to be the Ducks' most effective from the point of attack, setting down 11 kills on 17 swings with just three errors (.471 hitting %). Tied at six, a service error returned the ball to the Ducks and Varseveld followed with a consecutive aces, which was followed by an attack error to produce the longest run of the match to that point. 

The Ducks would go on a second 4-0 run to take a 14-8 lead and a kill and an ace from Bone pushed the advantage to 18-9. The Ducks would close out the frame with six unanswered points, including kills from Varseveld, sophomore Koby Sherman and Bone, to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

After controlling the point of attack in the second set, it was a statistical reversal in the third set as Springfield hit .440 in the frame to outscore Stevens 25-14 to claim the set. Springfield only committed one attack error in the set, while holding the Ducks to just eight kills on 32 swings. The Pride also recorded four blocks and a pair of aces and closed out the frame with a 9-3 run.

The final set saw Springfield jump in front with the first two points of the frame and the Pride would maintain a four-point lead into the middle portion of the set before the Ducks began to make their move. Coming out of a timeout, the Ducks scored four of the next five points to draw even at 18, with a solo block by Lancia igniting the Canavan faithful and forcing a Springfield timeout. 

The Ducks took their first lead of the set on a solo block from Sherman and the teams continued the back-and-forth play until Bickford knocked down a Moran set to bring the Ducks to match point. With Moran at the serve, Springfield's Dylan Mulvaney mistimed his block attempt on Bickford's attack and was called for a net violation, closing out the four-set victory. Bickford totaled six points in the fourth set, including each of the Ducks' final three points.

Against Ramapo, despite the narrow margin of victory in each of the three sets, the Ducks only found themselves trailing for a total of 16 points in the match. 

The Roadrunners opened the match by scoring three of the first four points and would open a 10-8 lead after an attack error. However, the Ducks answered with six straight points - three coming at the hands of Lancia - to take a 14-10 lead. Ramapo would draw even at 16, but Lancia notched a pair of kills to open a 23-19 lead. A double block from sophomore Hunter Schmidt and graduate student Colin Nikc brought the Ducks to set point and Franke converted a Nikc pass to close out the frame. 

The Ducks jumped on the board quickly in the second set, with Nikc putting a ball into the Ramapo defense before an ace and a kill from Weirick pushed the Ducks' lead to four. The four straight points to open the set would be the longest run from either side in the frame and the Ducks used a 6-1 run to grab a 20-14 lead. Stevens would hit .316 in the set and it was Lancia knocking down a pass from sophomore libero Jesse Knuckles to close the frame.

The final set saw Stevens score the first six points of the frame. Bickford converted a pass from Nikc to open the scoring and a Lancia ace pushed the lead to two. Ramapo would score four straight points to pull within 13-10, but the Ducks would maintain at least a three-point lead across the remainder of the set. Kills from sophomore Sebastian Huyke and Lancia wrapped up the sweep and the Ducks hit .400 in the final set to close out their fifth three-set victory of the season.
 
Inside the Numbers

• In a measure of just how even the match with Springfield was, both teams finished with a .241 hitting percentage, connecting on exactly 44 kills on 112 swings with 17 errors.
• Springfield served nine aces against only five for the Ducks, but the Pride also committed 21 service errors, while Stevens had 11.
• The Ducks had five aces in each of their two matches. 
• Weirick had a career-high 15 digs against Ramapo, helping the Ducks amass a season-high 44.

From the Sidelines - Head Coach Dan Buehring

• "Today was an incredible effort from all teams today and I am excited to see how gritty our group was with a tough Springfield team. We weathered tough storms today and competed hard to earn that win. If we continue to work hard and grow at this pace, we can improve to a whole new level come April. We will need to be humble and hard working to do so, for sure."

 
Up Next

• No. 3 Men's Volleyball hosts Baruch College for a non-conference tilt in Canavan Arena on Jan. 31 in the first meeting between the programs since 2019.
• Stevens has won the last eight matches in the all-time series. 
• Links for live stats and video for all three contests in the tri-match are posted to StevensDucks.com.

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