HOBOKEN, N.J. (October 18, 2023) – Junior Cleo Shannon finished with a match-high 10 kills with a .438 hitting percentage as the Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team swept King's College (25-11, 25-12, 25-16) Wednesday evening in a MAC Freedom matchup at Canavan Arena. 

Sophomore Vivian Lisboa set down eight kills on 12 swings without an error and senior Elle Maggio and sophomore Gabbi Roberts each added six for the Ducks, who won their seventh straight match to improve to 14-6 on the year and a perfect 5-0 in conference play. The three-set victory extended the Ducks' regular season conference winning streak to 14.

Joy Kindall had seven kills to pace the Monarchs, who fell to 13-8 on the year and to 1-4 in the MAC Freedom. Stevens' victory snapped the Monarchs' winning streak at three. Stevens has claimed all five meetings in the all-time series, with each victory coming in three sets.

The Rundown

• A decisive victory for Stevens, who took early control of all three sets and didn't trail in the first or second set. The Ducks finished the match with a season-best .469 hitting percentage, committing just six attack errors. Stevens' .469 attack percentage is the high mark for the program since the Ducks hit .534 (44-5-73) in a sweep of Sage on Oct. 7, 2017 and is also the best mark in both the MAC Freedom and the MAC Commonwealth this season.
• Stevens strung together the first three points of the match, and three of the first four. Senior Madison Sappia, the reigning MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Week, set the early tone, serving an ace – one of five on the night – for the first point of the match. A 5-1 run provided the Ducks with a nine-point cushion, King's trimmed the margin to seven on an Emily Scott kill and a ball-handling error, but the Ducks quickly responded with six straight points to break the frame open. Kills from senior Liz Patterson and Lisboa closed out the opening set.
• The Ducks followed a similar script in the second set. Lisboa converted a feed from Robberts for the first point of the frame as part of a set-opening 8-0 run. The Ducks were nearly perfect in the second set, committing just a pair of service errors and a pair of reception errors. Stevens hit a blistering .708 (17-0-24) and King's never got closer than six points. Three kills from Lisboa brought the Ducks to set point and Roberts put a perfectly-placed ball into the King's defense to give the Ducks a 2-0 lead in the match.
• The third set was the closest between the teams. King's scored the first point of the frame on a kill by Mia Campanile for its first lead of the night. The teams would trade the lead back and forth until four straight Stevens points put the home team in front for good. A double block by Shannon and first-year Liz Pederson closed out the run. While Stevens was seizing control of the set offensively, they were also controlling the net as well, forcing King's into more errors (7) than kills (5). A 5-2 run pulled King's within five (16-11), but sophomore Mallory Eder knocked down a Roberts feed and junior Bailey Axelrad served an ace to quickly end any hopes for the visitor of forcing a fourth set. The Ducks recorded five aces in the final set – one from Axelrad and two each from Sappia and senior Kristy Chen. First-year Kileen McNeill paired with Maggio for her first collegiate block before Maggio recorded her final kill of the match to bring the Ducks to match point. A King's attack error clinched the victory.

 
Top Performers

• The Ducks matched a season high with 13 aces. 
• 10 different Ducks recorded at least one kill. 
• Senior Meg Dion and first-year Molly Harris each had a perfect hitting percentage.
• Harris and Roberts each dished out 15 assists. 
• Sappia led the team with nine digs, while Axelrad had eight. As a team, the Ducks recorded 31, against 25 for King's. 
• Lisboa and Maggio each recorded a team-high two blocks.
• Harris and Chen each served three aces. The three aces set a new career high for Chen and was one off of Harris' top mark. Sophomore Paulina Miller also had an ace.

For the Opponents

• King's was held under a .100 hitting percentage for the fifth time this season, and for the third time in conference play.
• The Monarchs did not record a block for the third time this season.
• Adriana Conforti had a pair of aces.
• Morgan Williams paced the team with six digs.

Around the MAC Freedom 

• Misericordia 3, DeSales 1
• Lebanon Valley 3, Delaware Valley 0
• Arcadia 3, FDU-Florham 0

Coach's Comments – Head Coach Macon Frey

• "It was a great team win tonight and another chance to defend our home court. We executed really well both offensively and from the service line. I am excited to carry the positive energy from tonight's win into a competitive weekend at Scranton!"

Up Next

• Stevens hits the road for a tri-match on Oct. 21 against a pair of challenging opponents. The day opens with a tilt with No. 1 Juniata before closing the day against hosting Scranton. Stevens has dropped all four meetings with the Eagles since 2008, while the Ducks and Royals have traded wins and losses over their last five meetings, with Stevens earning the win in four sets last October. Links for live stats and video for both matches are posted to StevensDucks.com.

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