GENEVA, N.Y. (September 23, 2023) – Senior Meg Dion set down 10 kills and totaled four blocks as the Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team swept hosting William Smith College (25-15, 27-25, 25-15) Saturday to close out play in the Heron Invitational, at Bristol Gymnasium.

Sophomore Paulina Miller served a career-high five aces and senior Madison Sappia matched a career high with 19 digs for the Ducks, who finished play with a 6-4 record. The Invitational named an All-Tournament team, with Sappia earning recognition for her play across three matches: 36 digs, three aces and three assists.

Maiya Sayre paced the Herons with 10 kills and a pair of aces, while Marin Montagne and Jaylynn McCarthy each added four kills. William Smith, who are in their second season of intercollegiate competition, dropped all three of their matches of the weekend to fall to 6-6.

Stevens' sweep of William Smith earned the Ducks a split of two matches on the final day of competition. In the first match of the day, seniors Elle Maggio and Liz Patterson each set down 11 kills, but the Ducks fell to SUNY Cortland in four sets (25-15, 25-21, 20-25, 25-12). Giovanna Rossi paced the Red Dragons with 14 kills, leading four players in double figures. The Red Dragons then swept St. John Fisher to close play 10-2. Saturday's match was the first meeting between the teams since 2013 (also a neutral-site match) and dating back to 2010, the sides have alternated wins over their last four meetings. 

The Rundown

• SUNY Cortland earned the first point in three of the four sets – two of which they'd ultimately lead wire-to-wire. After scoring the first two points of the match, the Red Dragons opened a six-point lead with a pair of aces and a double block. Junior Cleo Shannon set down a kill, which was followed by an ace from first-year Molly Harris and a Dion kill to pull Stevens within three (11-8), but that would be as close as Stevens would get as SUNY Cortland scored six of the final seven points in the frame to claim the opening set.
• The second set provided the most back-and-forth action between the squads, with six ties and three lead changes. Senior Elle Maggio set down a Harris feed for the first point of the set – the only one that Stevens would score first. Maggio would pair with sophomore Mallory Eder to reject an Allie Sturgess attack as the Ducks built an early 4-1 lead. The Ducks would hold their lead into the middle portion of the set with a service error and another Harris ace giving the Ducks a 16-15 advantage. However, the lead would be short lived as SUNY Cortland then scored six of the next seven points to reclaim the lead. The teams then alternated the next eight points to hand the Red Dragons a 2-0 lead in the contest.
• Consecutive errors handed SUNY Cortland an early lead in the third set, however, kills from Maggio and Patterson sparked a four-point swing that saw Stevens jump in front. The Ducks broke the frame open with a 7-1 run, cued by three Sappia aces and a pair of Patterson kills. The comfortable margin remained as consecutive errors pushed Stevens' lead to double figures. SUNY Cortland made a late push to pull within four (23-19) but kills from Roberts and Patterson closed out the frame.
• The final set saw SUNY Cortland match its first-set performance with a .400 hitting percentage. The Red Dragons raced out to a 5-1 lead. Shannon knocked down a Harris pass to pull the Ducks within one, but a pair of six-point bursts opened a sizable lead for the Red Dragons. SUNY Cortland recorded four of the final five points to close out the victory.
• With a quick turnaround, the Ducks shook off their first-match setback and committed just four errors in winning the opening set. Dion paced the offense, connecting for five kills on nine attempts with just one miscue (.444). Miller also connected on three of her five aces in the opening frame, while Sappia and Patterson paced the defense by combining for 11 digs.
• The Ducks also committed just four attack errors in the final set, to claim both the opening and the final set by identical 25-15 margins. Both the first and third sets were also keyed by significant scoring runs: in the first, three aces and kills from four different players sparked a sequence that turned a 7-5 lead into a 12-5 one to break the frame open; the final set saw a Dion kill spark a 6-0 run that broke the frame open. The final set also saw the Ducks produce a 5-1 run and a 5-0 run to close out victory.
• Sandwiched between the two decisive set scores, the Ducks edged out a 27-25 score in the second set, with the teams combining for 10 ties and three lead changes. Consecutive kills from Shannon and Dion closed out the frame after William Smith fought off a set point with a 5-1 stretch.

Top Performers

• Patterson finished a dig shy of her third double-double of the season. The Midland Park, New Jersey native would then record 10 digs against William Smith to go along with eight kills.
• Harris dished out 24 assists against SUNY Cortland, marking her second match with 20 or more.
• Eder registered two blocks in the Ducks' opening match to lead the team for the second straight game. Dion's four rejections paced the team against the Herons.
• Miller's five aces against William Smith came on 21 serves without an error. She also collected 11 digs. 
• Sophomore Vivan Lisboa played a season-high four sets against William Smith and totaled four kills and two blocks.
• Sophomore Gabbi Roberts matched a career high with eight kills against William Smith and led the team with a .357 hitting percentage.
• The Ducks totaled 16 aces on the day, with nine coming against William Smith. 
• Harris and Roberts combined for 61 assists (183 sets) with just one setting error and one ball-handling error across the two matches.

For the Opponents

• Anna Pilkey joined Meadow Wittman in posting double-doubles for SUNY Cortland. Wittman finished with 21 assists and 12 digs. 
• SUNY Cortland finished with a .315 hitting percentage, the Red Dragons' second-highest mark of the season.
• Ryan Hinshaw finished with a match-high 23 assists without an error.
• William Smith finished with a negative hitting percentage, marking the first time in program history that the Herons finished a match with more errors than kills.
• Only three Herons finished the match with more than one kill.
• Lindsay Umlauf finished with two solo blocks to lead William Smith.

Around the MAC Freedom 

• DeSales 3, Cedar Crest 1 (Sept. 22)
• FDU Florham 3, Maritime 0 (Sept. 22)
• Catholic 3, Arcadia 0 (Sept. 22)
• Gallaudet 3, DeSales 1
• King's 3, Keystone 0
• Ramapo 3, Misericordia 1
• Utica 3, Arcadia 2
• Delaware Valley 3, Penn State-Abington 0
• Lebanon Valley 3, Lancaster Bible 1
• Misericordia 3, Farmingdale State 1
• Lebanon Valley 3, Hood 0
• King's 3, Mount Saint Mary 0
• Delaware Valley 3, Saint Elizabeth 0
• DeSales 3, Catholic 1

Coach's Comments

• "Our trip to William Smith this weekend was about challenging ourselves with new opponents and seeing how we match up. The outcomes of our first two matches do not reflect the growth we had as a team this weekend. It was really fun to end the weekend with a win against a great team in William Smith! We know what we need to work on, and we are looking forward to implementing those improvements for our conference match on Tuesday!" – head coach Macon Frey

Up Next
Stevens welcomes FDU-Florham to Canavan Arena for a MAC Freedom tilt on Sept. 26. The Ducks have won the last seven matches in the all-time series, including five sweeps. Stevens has won its last 10 conference matches. Links for live stats and video are posted to StevensDucks.com.

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