NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (February 10, 2024) – Senior Carver Weirick produced 12 kills across two matches, while junior Koby Sherman dropped 12 in the second match of the day, as the No. 2 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball beat both New Jersey City University (NJCU) 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-19) and SUNY New Paltz 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-26, 25-19) Saturday in a tri-match hosted by New Paltz.

Graduate student Louden Moran totaled 38 assists against New Paltz, while junior Sebastian Huyke also had 16 assists for the Ducks against NJCU. 

Stevens allowed NJCU to hit just .119 on the afternoon, while New Paltz hit .271 against the Ducks. Stevens produced a hitting percentage of .391 against the Hawks, and .298 against the Gothic Knights.

Stevens sees their winning streak rise to 10-straight games with the victories this afternoon. The Ducks improved to an impressive 21-0 over NJCU, and are now 27-12 all-time against the Hawks.

The Rundown (NJCU)

• Stevens jumped out to a 4-1 lead over the Gothic Knights, with graduate student Christopher Varseveld recorded a kill and first-year Alex Olcott tallying an ace early on. Later up 8-6, sophomore Tyler Hoke had a kill that sparked a 3-0 run for the Ducks to put them up five. NJCU hung tough and only trailed 15-13, but Stevens closed the set on a 10-2 run. Five Ducks contributed kills on the run as Stevens took an early 1-0 set lead.
• NJCU got off to the better start in the second frame as they took six of the first nine points. Stevens then scored the next three, two of which came off the hand of Weirick. Down 9-7, the Ducks answered with five of six to go up two. Olcott tallied two kills in the spurt, with junior Sebastian Huyke recording back-to-back aces. NJCU went down 24-18 and scored three-straight points, but a service error cut their comeback short as the Ducks took the second set.
• Looking to record yet another sweep, the Ducks got off to another slow start as they trailed 7-4. Still trailing at 10-8, Stevens went on a 6-0 run, their largest uninterrupted run of the match, to take a four-point lead. Junior Brandon Rogers and first-year Joshua Levandoske each had kills, while first-year Nick Schmidt tallied an ace. Stevens led 15-14 and scored the next three points, which NJCU would never recover from, as the Ducks swept the Gothic Knights after winning the third frame 25-19. 

The Rundown (New Paltz)

• Neither team was able to get too much separation as the largest lead in the set was four. Graduate students Connor Feulner and Percy Bickford each had three kills in the set for the Ducks. Stevens held a 22-21 lead before rattling off three points in a row to win by four. Bickford closed things out with the final kill.
• A sweep would not be in the cards for the second match as the Hawks tied things up at one. They jumped on the Ducks from the start, scoring nine of 11 and 11 of 14 to take a 11-3 lead. Down 15-8, Stevens cut the deficit to four, as Olcott secured two points via kills. New Paltz would score the next four and their lead would be too much, as they won by the reverse score of the first set.
• In the pivotal third set, Stevens led 6-1 to open it up, as Sherman had two kills while graduate student Louden Moran served up back-to-back aces. From there, the Hawks would never recover, trailing the rest of the frame. Midway through with a 15-10 lead, the Ducks scored six out of the next eight to blow things open. Sherman had a kill and an ace to spark the run. The Ducks would close things out and take a 2-1 lead going into the fourth.
• The Hawks took 4-2 and 8-5 leads to kick off the fourth frame. Stevens responded by scoring the next three and seven of the next nine points to jump in front by two. Weirick and Moran each had a kill and an ace. The Hawks would be unable to string consecutive points together down the stretch, as the Ducks secured the four-set victory.

Top Performers

• Hoke finished the New Paltz match with a hitting percentage of .636 on 11 attacks. He also had seven blocks across the two matches.
• Bickford tallied 11 kills against New Paltz.
• Weirick added 11 digs against NJCU.
• Olcott had eight digs versus NJCU.
• The Ducks combined for 14 service aces across the two matches.

For the Opponents

• Michael Spiegel tallied 16 kills for New Paltz.
• James Bajor had 10 kills for NJCU.
• Daniel Shanley recorded six kills and three aces for New Paltz.
• Brandon DaSilva had seven kills and two blocks for NJCU.

Around the Middle Atlantic Conference 

• Widener 1, Elizabethtown 3 F/THUR
• Misericordia 0, Hobart 3 F/FRI
• Misericordia 0, Wentworth 3 F/FRI
• Arcadia 1, Mount Union 3 F/FRI
• King's 3, Dean 0 F/FRI
• Southern Virginia 3, Stevenson 0 F/FRI
• Arcadia 3, Hiram 0
• Arcadia 3, Olivet 0
• Immaculata 2, Hood 3
• Misericordia 3, Baldwin Wallace 0
• King's 3, Fisher College 0
• Widener 0, Wilkes 3
• Thiel 3, Hood 0
• Widener 3, Wells 0
• Messiah vs. Lancaster Bible 6 p.m.

Up Next

• No. 2 Men's Volleyball returns home on Wednesday as they host No. 12 NYU in the annual Patrick Dorywalski Classic. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. Stevens is 22-14 all-time against NYU, including winning the last four. Links for live stats and video are posted to StevensDucks.com.