Center Valley, Pa. – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team swept DeSales in Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom action Wednesday night.

The Ducks won 25-18, 25-15, 25-20 for their fifth straight win over the Bulldogs and first sweep in Center Valley in program history.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Stevens (12-7, 3-1 MACF) trailed 5-3 in the first set, but four DeSales attack errors and kills from Ella Boland, Ella Kraver, and Vivian Lisboa produced seven straight points for the Ducks. The Bulldogs worked the margin down to a single point at 14-13, but Sarah Bolduc notched a trio of kills during a 5-0 run that gave Stevens its largest lead of the set at 19-13. The teams traded off the next nine points, leaving the score 23-18, before a Kraver kill and Lisboa service ace closed out the frame – Bolduc finished the set with six kills while Lisboa added four.

With the second set tied 4-4, a Boland kill, a Bolduc kill, and back-to-back Molly Harris service aces put the Ducks up 8-4. Multiple errors from DeSales plus kills by Bolduc (four), Eva Tarolli, and Alyssa O'Neal helped keep the Ducks comfortably in front. At 18-13, two Lisboa kills and Lisboa service ace pushed the margin to 21-13. Following another Bulldogs error, two O'Neal kills put the Ducks at set point, which Lisboa made quick work of with an ace.

O'Neal had a kill and an ace early in the third for the Ducks, who benefitted from three DeSales errors, taking a 5-3 lead. Lisboa (two) and Bolduc made it 8-4 with a trio of kills between them. Tarolli sandwiched a pair of kills around a trifecta of DeSales errors, and Bolduc added another kill for a 14-11 Stevens lead. The Ducks continued to be the beneficiaries of DeSales' error-filled evening, as four more (plus Bolduc and O'Neal kills) made it 20-16. DeSales sliced the deficit to a single point, but a Tarolli kill, two more errors, and two kills by Bolduc wrapped up the set and the sweep.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Defensively, Stevens held DeSales to a .072 hitting percentage, the team's seventh time holding an opponent under 10 percent this season
• Bolduc fell one kill shy of her career-high (set on Saturday against Washington & Lee), finishing with 16, to go along with seven digs; it was her fourth straight outing with at least a dozen kills and moved her into the team lead in kills per set this year (2.69)
• Harris finished with 35 assists and three service aces, both match highs
• Lisboa had eight kills on 12 swings without making an error (a .667 hitting percentage) and a match-high five block assists

 
UP NEXT
The Ducks will head to Cortland, N.Y. this weekend for a Red Dragon-hosted quad match, with things getting underway for head coach Macon Frey and company Friday at 4 p.m. against Ithaca.
 
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