HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 30, 2024) – Junior Koby Sherman had a team-high 12 kills and graduate student Percy Bickford added nine as No. 3 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball swept No. 9 Vassar College (27-25, 25-15, 25-21) Saturday in a non-conference match at Canavan Arena.

Graduate student Louden Moran continued his push towards 3,000 career assists with his third double-double of the season with 28 assists and 10 digs for the Ducks, who improved to 28-1. Moran, who did not play in the first match of the day, has 608 assists on the year, bringing his career total to 2,977. Already the program's career leader, Moran needs another 23 helpers to become just the fourth active men's volleyball player across all NCAA divisions, to reach the career milestone.

Vaughn Ramsey had a match-high 15 kills to lead Vassar, who fell to 19-6. The Ducks' three-set victory snapped Vassar's four-match winning streak. The teams have split their last four matches, with each side winning twice on its home floor.

Earlier in the day, graduate student Connor Feulner and first-years Alex Olcott and Ryan Schmid combined for 16 kills on 27 swings without an error as the Ducks swept Hood College (25-10, 25-7, 25-3) to improve to 7-0 in Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) play. The sweep was the Ducks' sixth within MAC play and with the victory the Ducks assured themselves a home semifinal match on April 11. Stevens, who has already clinched at least a share of the regular season title, can earn the number one seed in the conference tournament outright Wednesday with a victory at King's College. The Ducks have won their last 38 regular season MAC matches. The wins extended the Ducks' current winning streak to 25.

Sean Seely led the Blazers with three kills and four digs as Hood fell to 5-20 on the year and to 0-7 in conference play. The Blazers have dropped nine straight and Stevens has won both matches in the all-time series. 

Prior to the Hood match, which opened the unique doubleheader, the men's volleyball program honored seven members of its Class of 2024: Moran, Feulner, Bickford, classmates Nathan Lancia and Christopher Varseveld, along with seniors Carver Weirick and Phu-Quy Ho in an on-court ceremony. Collectively, the group of graduate students and seniors have won 103 matches together and is one of the most successful collection of student-athletes in program history.

The Rundown

• Stevens led the entire match against Hood wire-to-wire, winning the first point in all three sets. 
• Feulner, who did all his scoring in the opening set, led the offense in set one with six kills on nine attacks without an error. Feulner also totaled three blocks.
• The Ducks reeled off the first 11 points of the match to take control of the opening set, including a pair of blocks by Feulner and first-year Esteban Schmitt.
• Hood strung together three straight points to mark its longest run of the match, trimming Stevens' lead to 19-6.
• The Ducks scored two of the final three points of the opening sets on Hood errors.
• Stevens scored nine of the first 11 points in the second set to seize control of the frame. A 7-0 run extended the lead to 23-5. A Schmitt kill brought the Ducks to set point and another Hood error produced a 2-0 in the match for Stevens.
• Stevens scored the first eight points of the final set to take control. 
• Impressively, the Ducks held Hood to just one kill in the final set and the Blazers hit -.462 after totaling 13 hitting errors in the frame.
• The Ducks ended the match with five straight points, three of which came on blocks. First-year Joshua Levandoske was involved in two of the three, including a solo block on an Adam Bartice attack.
• Schmitt paired with classmate Nick Schmidt to reject a Gael Bravo attack to close out the match.
• Against Vassar, the Ducks found themselves on the wrong side of the score in the early going, with the Brewers scoring the first two points and five of the first eight. 
• The Ducks rallied with five straight points, including consecutive double blocks by Bickford and Feulner.
• Neither team was able to break away from the other in the middle portions as the teams played to nine ties and five lead changes in the opening set – more than the other two sets combined.
• A Moran ace brought the Ducks to set point, only for Vassar to string three straight points together to reach its first set point. A service error again knotted the teams and Stevens went on to score the final three points of the frame to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
• Vassar again scored the first points of the second set, taking advantage of a Stevens attack error to take an early lead.
• Four straight points – two coming on blocks – boosted the Ducks to an 8-5 lead and the Ducks would go on a 6-0 run later in the set – the largest run of the match for the home team – to break the set open at 18-9. 
• The teams alternated the final 10 points of the match, with sophomore Tyler Hoke converting a Moran feed to close out the frame. 
• It was Stevens that scored first to open the third set with Bickford putting a ball into the Vassar defense.
• A service ace gave the guests a 7-5 lead only for the Ducks to jump in front for good with five straight points. Sherman started the run with an emphatic kill and back-to-back errors gave the Ducks a 10-7 advantage. 
• Vassar closed to within a point on kills from Billy Fan and A.J. Erickson, but a Bickford kill followed by consecutive Sherman kills returned a comfortable lead to Stevens,
• A service error brought the Ducks to match point and Hoke and Sherman blocked a Fan attack to close out the match.

Top Performers

• Stevens held Hood to a -0.333 hitting percentage, the lowest mark for a Duck opponent since Feb. 20, 2016.
• Against the Blazers, 10 different players had at least one kill and six different players finished without an attacking error.
• Stevens finished with 11 total blocks against Vassar and 11.5 against Hood. 
• Junior Tyler Christensen came off the bench against Vassar and served a key ace that helped cement the opening set after the Ducks fought off a Vassar set point. 
• Sherman finished with six blocks against Vassar to set a new career high.
• Sophomore Phillip Bone made his season debut against Vassar with one kill across two sets.
• The Ducks finished with a hitting percentage over .300 in each match to bring their season total to 19. Stevens is fourth in Division III in team hitting percentage (0.333).

For the Opponents

• Payne Lounsbery had a pair of aces to lead Vassar.
• Erickson finished with 20 assists.

Around the Middle Atlantic Conference 

• No. 19 Marymount 3, Stevenson 0 (F/Mar. 26)
• No. 18 Misericordia 3, Messiah 0 (F/Mar. 26)
• Arcadia 3, King's 0 (F/Mar. 27)
• Widener 3, Eastern 2 (F/Mar. 27)
• Stevenson 3, Hood 0 (F/Mar. 27)
• Widener 3, Drew 1 (F/Mar. 28)
• Arcadia 3, Eastern 0
• Drew 3, Eastern 1
• No. 18 Misericordia 3, Stevenson 0
• Sacred Heart 3, No. 18 Misericordia 0
• Arcadia 3, Drew 0
• Sacred Heart 3, Stevenson 1

Up Next
No. 3 Stevens returns to the court on April 6 for a MAC regular season finale at King's. A victory clinches the MAC regular season title and the top seed in the postseason tournament. Stevens is 13-0 inside Canavan Arena this season and have won 50 straight on campus since dating back to 2021. The Ducks are 4-0 against the Monarchs all-time. Links for live stats and video are posted to StevensDucks.com.

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