HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 20, 2024) – Graduate student Percy Bickford finished with a team-high 10 kills as No. 2 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team defeated No. 6 Juniata College 3-1 (25-18, 25-23, 22-25, 25-15) Saturday in the quarterfinal round of the 2024 NCAA tournament inside Canavan Arena.

Graduate student Connor Feulner finished with nine kills and seven blocks and classmate Louden Moran flirted with a triple double with 37 assists, eight digs and a season-high six blocks for the Ducks, who will make their straight trip to the national semifinals next weekend in Dubuque, Iowa. The four-set victory extended the Ducks' winning streak to 30 as the squad improved to 33-1. The contest also rounded out the Ducks' home campaign, where the team went 17-0 for the third straight year and extended the program's winning streak in the friendly confines to 54.

Tyler Goldborough finished with a match-high 21 kills to lead Juniata, whose season ends with a 26-7 record. Stevens has won the last 12 meetings in the all-time series, including all three matchups this season – all of which were decided in exactly four sets.

For their efforts across both rounds of the Hoboken Regional, Bickford, Feulner and Moran were named to the All-Region Team. The Ducks' trio was joined by Goldborough and his teammates Reese Ganter and Luke Hoffman. Springfield middle Chris Rouleau rounded out the seven-person team.

Stevens was able to control with an efficient hitting performance and strong play at the net. For the 24th time this season, Stevens finished with an attack percentage higher than .300 (.341) and produced 16 total team blocks – the most for the program since Mar. 6, 2021 at Misericordia. Conversely, Stevens held Juniata to just .168 for the match, the fourth-lowest total for Juniata this season, and the Ducks closed out the match by forcing the Eagles into the same number of kills and errors (10) in the final set.

The Rundown

• Stevens took control of the match from the opening set. Feulner converted a Moran pass for the first point of the contest. Graduate student Nathan Lancia followed with a solo block of a Tyler Phillips attack to account for the second point. Stevens scored the first five points of the match and seven of the first eight to race out to an early lead.
• Juniata climbed back into the match with four straight points, but the Eagles were unable to get any closer than two points over the remainer of the frame. An exchange of three-point runs produced a 23-16 lead for the Ducks and Fullner converted a Bickford pass for his second kill of the night to close out the set. 
• The second set produced the most back-and-forth play between the teams as Stevens and Juniata combined for eight ties and three lead changes. Goldsborough was nearly perfect for Juniata connecting for five kills on six swings without an error (.833), but Bickford was slightly better, converting six of his seven attacks (.857), while Feulner was a perfect 3 for 3 from the point of attack. 
• Juniata appeared to be closing in on a victory in the second set after Ganter fed Phillips for a kill to give the guests a 23-20 advantage. However, the resilient Ducks scored the final five points of the frame to take a 2-0 lead in the match. Four of the points came with junior Tyler Christensen on the service line, while Bickford and Feulner rejected a Phillips attack to provide a big boost. Bickford would convert a Moran pass to close out the frame.
• Juniata turned in its best performance in winning the third set, producing 16 kills against just eight for the Ducks. It was Goldsborough again pacing the Eagles, converting six kills, while six different players had a kill in the frame for Stevens. With its season on the line, Juniata scored seven of the first 10 points and 12 of the first 17. A pair of Juniata errors drew the Ducks within six at 18-12 and a late Stevens run saw the Ducks score four straight points, three on blocks, to pull within two but an attack error closed out the frame.
• As it did in the opening set, Stevens led wire-to-wire in the final set to close out the match. The Ducks scored the first four points of the set, two coming on blocks including a nifty solo block of a Chris Mellor attack by Moran. Stevens hit .500 in the final frame and totaled just five errors of any kind in the frame. Feulner, Lancia and junior Koby Sherman led the efforts in the final set with three kills each, while Moran totaled four blocks. With a healthy lead, a double block by Moran and classmate Christopher Varseveld closed out the victory.

Top Performers

• Christensen had both Ducks' aces.
• Junior libero Jesse Knuckles finished with a match-high nine digs.
• Sophomore Tyler Hoke totaled seven kills and four blocks. 
• Moran has averaged 8.75 assists per set across the postseason.
• Stevens has hit at least .316 in each of its last nine matches and the Ducks are hitting .364 in the postseason. Conversely, the Ducks have held their last 14 opponents under .200.

For the Opponents

• Goldsborough served up a match-high five aces.

Else in the Division III Men's Volleyball Postseason

• No. 7 NYU 3, No. 1 Southern Virginia 1 (NCAA)
• No. 8 Vassar, No. 3 Wentworth 2 (NCAA)
• No. 4 Cal Lutheran 3, No. 5 Loras 2 (NCAA)
• NJCU 3, Ramapo 0 (ECAC)
• Rutgers-Newark 3, Saint Vincent 0 (ECAC)
• Rutgers-Newark 3, NJCU 1 (ECAC)

Up Next

• No. 2 Stevens heads to Dubuque, Iowa for the national semifinals, hosted by Loras College. The Ducks will face No. 4 California Lutheran University on Friday, April 26. The Kingsmen defeated Loras College to win the Dubuque Regional. The teams have met just once in their respective histories, with Cal Lutheran coming away with a five-set victory inside Canavan Arena on Mar. 29, 2019.

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