HUNTINGDON, Pa. (February 3, 2024) – Junior Koby Sherman dropped a season-high 23 kills in game two, while first-year Alex Olcott tallied a career-high 12 in game one, as the No. 2 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball beat both Mount Union 3-0 (27-25, 26-24, 25-13) and No. 12 Juniata 3-1 (25-23, 25-9, 18-25, 25-22) Saturday on day two of the FrogJump Invitational hosted by Juniata. 

The Ducks finish the Invitational 3-0 after picking up a victory over No. 11 Carthage last night.

Graduate student Louden Moran totaled 43 assists against Juniata and 13 against Mount Union. Junior Sebastian Huyke also had 13 assists for the Ducks against Mount Union. 

Stevens allowed Juniata to hit .299 in the match, which was better than what they allowed a week ago. Mount Union was only able to hit .075 in the match. The Ducks hit .411 against Juniata, which was their second best hitting percentage of the year. Stevens hit .267 in the match with Mount Union.

Stevens takes down Juniata 3-1 for the second time this season and the second time in as many weeks. The Ducks improve to 13-12 all-time versus the Eagles. The team has dropped just two sets in their last five matches, both coming against Junitata. Stevens is also now 1-0 against Mount Union.

The Rundown (Mount Union)

• Stevens went 5-0 early on the Raiders to begin the first set. Olcott had two of his 12 total kills in those first five points. Up 7-3, The Ducks scored six of the next seven to open up a big 13-4 lead. Up 13-5, Olcott, senior Carver Weirick, and junior Sebastian Huyke had back-to-back-to-back kills to go up 11. From there, Mount Union scored 14 of the next 18 to get within one. The set would go to extras, as the Ducks would score the last two points via errors, winning 27-25.
• Stevens again got out to an early 7-5 lead in the second frame, as junior Brandon Rogers tacked on two early kills. With the Ducks up 10-7, the Raiders scored three-straight to tie the set. They would also score five of the next seven to take the lead. Stevens would respond by scoring seven of the next eight points, with six of those coming off of errors, to take a 20-17 lead. With the Raiders leading 23-22, Stevens closed out the set by scoring four of the last five to win 26-24. Junior Koby Sherman recorded the last two points with two kills.
• Going for the sweep, Stevens went on an 8-0 to open the third set as Olcott recorded two kills. The Raiders would not be able to recover, as they gave up a 5-0 run down 12-7 to increase their deficit to ten. Olcott recorded the final kill of the set, as the Ducks rolled 25-13.

• The Eagles jumped out to a 3-0 lead and led for most of the early parts of the first set. Down 13-10, Stevens rattled off four-straight points, two of which came off of Sherman attacks, to put the Ducks up one. The two teams then traded points back and forth. With the score 20-19, Stevens scored five of six points to take a clutch 24-21 lead. Sherman once again played a role, tallying two kills on the run. Juniata would follow by scoring the next two, but the Ducks closed out the set thanks to a Juniata service error.
• It was full steam ahead for the Ducks, who blew out Juniata in the second set by a score of 25-9. Stevens jumped out to a 12-2 lead and never looked back. Graduate student Percy Bickford tallied four kills in the set, while the Ducks as a team recorded three aces.
• Stevens could not pull off yet another sweep as Juniata took set three. Down 5-4, Stevens took a slim one point lead after back-to-back kills by Sherman and graduate student Nathan Lancia. With the score 11-10 in favor of the Ducks, Juniata scored six of eight to restore their advantage. After a Lancia kill that made it 19-17 Juniata, the Eagles scored six of the final seven points as they secured the 25-18 set victory.
• The Ducks got back on track in the fourth set as they closed out the Eagles in four. It was a close one, as the two teams split the first 16 points. After Juniata took a 9-8 lead, Stevens recorded the next three points to take a two-point lead. All three points came off of Sherman kills. It remained neck and neck, as neither team led by more than three in the set, which is what the final margin would be as the Ducks secured the win.

Top Performers

• Sherman finished the Juniata match with a hitting percentage of .625 on 32 attacks. He also had five blocks across the two matches.
• Graduate student Christopher Varseveld tallied eight blocks on the day.
• Junior Jesse Knuckles tallied 10 digs against Juniata.
• As a team, the Ducks had six aces.
• Bickford had 11 kills and four digs versus Juniata.

For the Opponents

• Jack McClure tallied 17 kills for Mount Union.
• Will Heeney had 31 assists and five digs for Mount Union.
• Juan Armando amassed 24 kills and eight digs for Juniata.
• Reese Ganter tallied 48 assists, two kills, and three digs for Juniata.

Around the Middle Atlantic Conference 

• Roanoke 0, Stevenson 3 F/SAT
• Cal Lutheran 3, Widener 0 F/SAT
• Nichols 3, Misericordia 1 F/SAT
• Elizabethtown 3, Hood 0
• Cal Lutheran 2, Arcadia 3
• Drew 0, Misericordia 3
• Messiah 0, Kean 3
• Messiah 3, Randolph-Macon 2
• New Paltz 0, Stevenson 3
• Neumann 3, Hood 0
• Lancaster Bible 0, Arcadia 3
• Rutgers-Newark 1, Misericordia 3
• Stevenson 3, Kean 1

Up Next

• No. 2 Men's Volleyball returns home on Thursday as they host Hunter. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will serve as a Mental Health Awareness Game for the Ducks. Stevens is 17-2 all-time against Hunter. Links for live stats and video are posted to StevensDucks.com.