HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 8, 2023) – Senior Percy Bickford had 17 kills and first-year Phillip Bone registered 15 kills as the No. 1 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball defeated both Widener University (25-20, 25-15, 25-16) and No. 8 New York University (25-13, 21-25, 25-15, 25-22) Wednesday evening in a rare doubleheader at Canavan Arena.

Junior Carver Weirick led the way for the Ducks in their opening match against Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) opponent Widener (10-9, 0-3), totaling eight kills, six digs, and one assist. Bone tallied seven of his 15 kills on the day in the matchup. This marked the Ducks' fourth straight victory over the Pride and extended the team's conference winning streak to 18.

Later in the day, senior Percy Bickford recorded 15 kills and five digs for the Ducks as they defeated NYU (11-5) for the second time this season. The victories moved the Ducks to an impressive 22-2 and extended the Ducks' winning streak to 11. Stevens has won 31 straight matches inside Canavan Arena. Widener closed play with a 11-9 mark on the year and to 0-3 in the MAC. NYU dropped to 11-5. The matches were held as part of the second annual Patrick Dorywalski Classic, which honors the longtime former Stevens head men's volleyball coach.

Against Widener, Stevens jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first set. The Pride would respond, however, scoring eight of the next ten points to take an 8-5 lead. Trailing by four, the Ducks reeled off four straight points fueled by three kills from Bone to tie the score. Widener would go on to score the next point, but the Ducks rattled off seven straight points to open a 19-12 lead. Bone, senior Christopher Varseveld and Weirick each had kills in the run and Bone added an ace. Stevens would end up closing out the set, winning 25-20. Bone finished with seven kills in the first set, which was two short of Widener's team total.

Set two started out much better for the Ducks as they got off to a 10-3 lead highlighted by six service aces. Sophomore Hunter Schmidt led the way w4ith three during the stretch, while sophomore Koby Sherman had two and sophomore Sebastian Huyke had one. The set became very back and forth after that, as Stevens held a 20-15 lead after 35 points played. The Ducks would slam the door shut from there by scoring the next five points, including two kills from Sherman and an ace from Brandon Rogers, to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

The start of the third set between the Ducks and the Pride played out evenly, as the Ducks held a slim 9-8 advantage early on. Stevens put some distance between themselves and Widener with a 4-0 run, which was the longest run of the third set from either team thanks to two Widener errors, a kill from Weirick, and an ace from Bickford. The Ducks were able to maintain the margin and defeat Widener 25-16 and complete the sweep to move to 3-0 in conference play.

Against NYU, the Ducks came out prepared, going on a 3-0 run to begin play as Sherman and Bickford each earned early kills. Already leading 7-4 a little later in the set, Stevens would go on to score six of the next seven points to open up a 13-5 advantage over the No. 8 team in the country. The Violets would respond however, scoring five of the next six to cut the deficit to 15-11. Up 19-13 later on, Stevens closed on a 6-0 run, as Bickford and senior Connor Fuelner had one kill on the run to give set one to the Ducks.

The second set proved to be a different story as the Violets came out victorious, tying things at one set a piece. After going up 10-9, they never trailed the rest of the way, winning the set 25-21 and taking the final three points of the set. Gautham Dasari led the way for NYU with seven kills in the set, while Bickford also had seven kills for the Ducks. Stevens also committed 11 errors in the frame.

• Stevens made sure to turn things around as they quickly jumped out to a 4-1 in the third set, thanks to kills from Bickford, Fuelner, and senior Louden Moran. NYU would fight back over the next 11 points to tie things up at eight. Following that, Stevens scored nine out of the next ten points to open a commanding lead. The run was fueled by errors from the Violets, as well as big plays from Bickford, Fuelner, and senior Alex Franke, who provided a big lift off the bench with four kills on six swings with just one error across two sets. Stevens would win set three 25-15 to take a 2-1 lead.

Set four was tightly contested by both teams throughout. After splitting the first ten points, NYU was able to hold a slim 10-8 lead and gain a little momentum as they tried to force a fifth set. The two teams would continue to remain close, as Bone recorded another kill to tie things at 12. Tied up at 13, the Ducks started to pull away after Bickford tallied three straight kills to put Stevens up three. The Violets kept fighting though as they were able to comeback and tie the set at 22. Stevens would close the match by scoring the final three points in set four, which consisted of two NYU errors and a kill from Franke, to secure the season sweep of NYU.

Inside the Numbers

• Stevens had a much better hitting percentage (34.6%) compared to Widener (10.3%).
• Bone finished the day with five aces.
• Stevens totaled five blocks against Widener, while finishing with eight against NYU.
• Moran provided 38 assists and recorded six digs in the win over NYU.
• Stevens committed just 27 turnovers on the night, while their opponents combined for 48.
• The Ducks recorded ten service aces against Widener. Schmidt led the way with three, while Bone and Sherman each had two.
• Bone led the Ducks with a career-high matching 10 digs against Widener, while Weirick paced the team with six against NYU. 

Up Next

• No. 1 Men's Volleyball resumes MAC play on March 18 as they take on Stevenson and King's College (Pa.) in a MAC tri-match hosted by Stevenson.
• The Ducks take on Stevenson in the opener, set for 1 p.m. The Ducks won 3-1 in last year's contest.
• Stevens will also take on King's College (Pa.) in the second match of the event at 3 p.m. Stevens is 3-0 all-time against the Monarchs.
• Links for live stats and video for both matches are available on StevensDucks.com.

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