HOBOKEN, N.J. – The No. 3 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team remained unbeaten with a commanding 25-9, 25-19, 25-22 victory Friday night over Rutgers-Newark in their home opener at Canavan Arena.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Greg Li,
Alex Olcott, and
Koby Sherman all had one kill apiece in the early going, with Olcott adding a service ace and Sherman adding a solo block as the Ducks went up 8-2 in the first. The Scarlet Knights got two points back but kills from Sherman and Li pushed the lead right back to six and drew a timeout from the Rutgers-Newark bench. Stevens (5-0) reeled off three straight and seven of eight coming out the timeout; Sherman added two more kills and
Tyler Hoke added a kill and a pair of block assists (one with Sherman, one with
Phillip Bone) during the post-timeout run.
The Scarlet Raiders temporarily stopped the spurt with back-to-back kills, but a Scarlet Raiders service error, kill from
Ryan Schmid, and solo block from Olcott set the Ducks off on a run of seven straight that put them at set point, with another Rutgers-Newark service error giving the Red and Gray a 1-0 lead; Sherman finished the opening set with a team high four kills while the Ducks hit .714 without recording a single attack error.
The second set started much like the first, with
Sebastian Huyke and Olcott adding kills for the opening points of the frame, but the Scarlet Raiders jumped in front with five of the next six. Four straight points off errors (three from the Scarlet Raiders) left the score tied at six. Ties at 7, 8, and 9-all followed before Rutgers-Newark jumped in front 11-9.
Four Rutgers-Newark errors and an Olcott kill put Stevens up 14-13 and forced the second Scarlet Raiders timeout of the night.
Hunter Schmidt and
Ryan Schmid combined for three kills and Bone added a service ace, pushing the Ducks' lead to 20-16. Another quartet of errors from the Scarlet Raiders put Stevens on set point, which Sherman put away with another kill.
The Scarlet Raiders went up 4-1 to start the third, but a service error and a kill, then block assist by Sherman, knotted things at four. The Scarlet Raiders held a trio of two-point cushions, but conceded four points to the Ducks via error, leaving things all square at eight. The Red and Gray took their first lead of the set, 10-9, after an Olcott kill and block assist by Li and Schmid.
Five more Rutgers-Newark errors and a Sherman kill gave Stevens its largest lead of the set, 16-13. Out of another Scarlet Raiders timeout, the visitors rallied for 17-16, 18-17, and 19-18 leads, but the Ducks kept coming. Kills from Sherman and Olcott, a Huyke/
Esteban Schmitt block assist, and Sherman solo block put the Ducks up 23-20.
After a Scarlet Raiders service error (their 17
th of the evening) put the Ducks on match point, Sherman ended the night with his ninth kill of the match.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Stevens has won all 15 sets it has played this season and allowed 20 points or more in just four of those sets.
- Sherman's offensive efforts marked his fourth outing of the season with at least eight kills.
- The Ducks held a third straight opponent to an attack percentage below 10 percent, forcing 28 attack errors from Rutgers-Newark, the most by a Stevens opponent this season.
- As a team, Stevens hit .357, its fourth time over 35 percent this season.
- Olcott (seven) and Huyke (six) combined for 13 of the Ducks' 29 digs.
UP NEXT
The Ducks head to Wisconsin next weekend for a Friday evening affair with No. 8 Carthage, then a Saturday tri-match against No. 5 Juniata and Baldwin-Wallace. Friday's contest will begin at 7 ET/6 CT; Saturday's matches are slated to begin at 12 ET/11 CT and 1:30 ET/12:30 CT.
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