KENOSHA, Wis. (February 10, 2023) – Sophomore Koby Sherman had a team-leading 12 kills, but No. 1 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball fell to No. 7 Carthage College in four sets (14-25, 20-25, 25-20, 22-25) Friday in a non-conference matchup at Tarble Arena.

Senior Connor Feulner had six kills and four blocks and senior Percy Bickford and first-year Phillip Bone each had seven kills for the Ducks, who saw their eight-match winning streak come to an end in falling to 11-2. The setback was the first for the Ducks against Division III competition. 

Carter Schmidt had a match-high 16 kills and Zach Bulthuis finished with 10 kills and five blocks to lead Carthage, who won its fifth straight to improve to 7-3 on the year. The Firebirds have won three of the last four matchups in the all-time series.

The Ducks got off to an uncharacteristically slow start, totaling just five kills on a negative hitting percentage in the opening set. Conversely, Carthage committed just two attack errors, while hitting .500 in leading the set from start to finish. The Firebirds scored five of the first six points in the frame and the Ducks' best stretch came in the middle of the set when consecutive double blocks from Feulner and senior setter Louden Moran was part of a three-point run that helped Stevens close within two at 8-6. However, Carthage then reeled off seven straight points to take control of the set. 

The disparity in the first set proved to be somewhat of an abnormality as the remainder of the match was much more contested as the teams combined for 14 ties over the final three sets. Interestingly enough, there was just one tie over the remainder of the contest, as Carthage never trailed in the second and fourth sets and the Ducks only trailed once in the third.

Trailing 2-0 in the match, the Ducks jumped in front early in the third, scoring four of the first six points. Carthage rallied to tie the score at five only for Stevens to answer. The Ducks maintained a two-point lead through the middle portion of the frame and a kill from Bickford and an attack error pushed the Ducks' advantage to 22-18. Kills from Sherman and Lancia closed out the set as the Ducks hit an impressive .550 (14-3-20) in winning their first set of the match.

Neither side was able to put a run together in the early portion of the final set. After a service error drew the teams even at four, Carthage appeared to start to pull away with three straight points, but the resilient Ducks were able to again knot the set at 10. However, the Firebirds responded with eight of the next nine points. The Ducks again rallied with a 5-1 run to pull back to within three, but a kill by Drew Janser brought Carthage to match point. The Ducks fought back with kills from Feulner and Lancia, which was then followed by a Sherman ace to pull within two at 24-22, but Carter Schmidt knocked down a set to close out the match.
 
Inside the Numbers

• Carthage finished the match hitting .361, while the Ducks finished at .209.
• The Ducks totaled nine blocks against eight for Carthage.
• The serve-receive proved to be a significant statistic in the match as Carthage had 10 aces, while the Ducks had two. 
• All-American Gene McNulty had 48 assists to lead Carthage, while Moran finished with 33.
• Sophomore Jesse Knuckles had five digs to lead the Ducks, who totaled 18 on the night. 
• Lancia had two solo blocks.

Up Next

• No. 1 Men's Volleyball continues its Midwest swing Saturday with a tri-match hosted by Aurora University.
• Stevens will take on the hosting Spartans and Milwaukee School of Engineering.
• The matchup with MSOE opens the day and will be the first meeting between the teams outside the state of New Jersey since 2006 and the contest with Aurora is believed to be the first meeting between the teams.
• Links for live stats and video for both matches are available on StevensDucks.com.

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