ROCHESTER, N.Y. (October 14, 2023) – Junior Cleo Shannon totaled 26 kills across two matches as the Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team defeated No. 23 Ithaca 3-2 (24-26, 25-18, 19-25, 25-22, 15-13) and Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) (26-24, 25-13, 25-23) Saturday night on the campus of RIT.
The Ducks (13-6) find themselves on a six-match winning streak, which is their longest of the season. Stevens has also won four non-conference matches in a row. The win over Ithaca (15-4) marks the Ducks' first win over a ranked team since September 8, 2018, when the Ducks beat Swarthmore in five sets. The win over RIT (7-16) marks the fifth non-conference sweep for Stevens this season.
The Rundown (Ithaca)
- Stevens earned the victory against Ithaca with a .277 hitting percentage, while Ithaca hit .240 percent.
- The two teams felt each other out early, splitting the first 20 points. The Ducks then followed that up with an extended 10-7 run, with Senior Meg Dion contributing two kills late to help the lead get to three. However, Ithaca would go on a 5-0 run to follow that and then score four of the final points to win 26-24.
- After going down 4-1 in the second, the Ducks came back with a 4-0 run to get back into the thick of things. Later with Stevens up 11-10, the Ducks scored seven of the next eight points to take a 18-11 lead. Four different Ducks tallied a kill on the run. Stevens would close out the set with a kill from Vivian Lisboa to win 25-19.
- The back and forth would continue as Ithaca took care of business in the third set. They gained their advantage in the middle of the frame as they scored nine of 12 points after being tied at seven. The Bombers would win the third 25-19.
- Despite trailing 10-9 in the fourth, Stevens rallied to score the next seven points to take a 16-10 lead in a set they needed to have. The Bombers were able to tie things up at 18, but Stevens showed great resilience down the stretch, winning 25-22 to force the fifth set.
- It became back-to-back five set matches for the Ducks and in this one, they trailed 5-2 early. Still trailing now 8-6, Stevens got four points in a row, including kills by Dion, senior Liz Patterson, and first-year Molly Harris, to take a 10-6 lead. Lisboa would get the final kill of the match as the Ducks prevailed to win in five sets.
The Rundown (RIT)
- Stevens earned the victory against RIT with a .184 hitting percentage, while RIT hit .061 percent.
- After a long layoff in between games, the Ducks let RIT hang around throughout the first set. The two teams stayed close throughout the frame, with neither team having a lead bigger than five, which came with the Tigers up 19-14. Stevens then answered with five straight points of their own to tie things up again. Tied at 24, Shannon ended the set with back-to-back kills to give the Ducks an early advantage.
- It was all Ducks in the second set as they continued to assert their dominance in Clark Gymnasium. The Ducks used a 8-0 run after being tied at nine to blow open the frame. This time senior Elle Maggio used back-to-back kills to end the set as the Ducks took a 2-0 lead.
- Another big run helped the Ducks to victory in the set, as they used a six point run after trailing by three to take a 17-14 lead. The Tigers stormed back however, and led 23-22 late as they tried to force a fourth set. The Ducks finished it off with three straight points to win.
Top Performers
- Shannon had 26 kills and eight blocks.
- Senior Madison Sappia totaled 48 digs.
- Dion had a career high 18 kills, seven aces, and a season high seven blocks against Ithaca.
- Lisboa totaled 16 kills.
- First-year Molly Harris had 49 assists.
- Patterson had five aces against RIT.
For the Opponents
- Gabriela Gonzalez-Abreu (Ithaca) had 21 kills.
- Maddie Cox (Ithaca) had 50 assists and 12 digs.
- Peyton Miller (Ithaca) tallied 17 digs and three aces.
- Mia Gerber (RIT) had nine kills.
- Sydney Neff (RIT) had 18 assists and 11 digs.
- Hailey Blixt (RIT) tallied 13 digs and six assists.
Around the MAC Freedom
- Arcadia 1, York 3
- Delaware Valley 0, Lycoming 3
- FDU-Florham 0, William Patterson 3
- Purchase 0, King's 3
- Arcadia 3, Penn State Schuylkill 0
- NJCU 0, Misericordia 3
- FDU-Florham 3, Baruch 1
- Delaware Valley 2, Keuka 3
- Messiah 3, Misericordia 0
- Old Westbury 0, King's 3
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