Pittsburgh, Pa. – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team's 2025 season concluded Thursday night with a three-set defeat at the hands of Carnegie Mellon in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament.
Stevens fell 21-25, 19-25, 11-25, ending the season with a final record of 22-10.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Ducks fell behind 4-0 but showed plenty of resiliency, rallying back to tie not one, not twice, but four times before finally taking a 15-14 lead. Initially, the Ducks took five of the next six points after the initial four-spot from the Tartans to tie at five, then again at six. Carnegie Mellon (25-8) re-took a 9-7 lead, but the Ducks came away with three of the next four points to tie at 10. After a 12-12 tie became a 14-12 Carnegie Mellon lead, kills by
Eva Tarolli and
Sarah Bolduc + a Tartans attack error put the Ducks in front for the first time. The back and forth continued down the stretch, with CMU jumping back in front 17-15, then 19-17, with the Ducks tying things up twice more, but the Tartans took a 21-19 cushion they did not relinquish, putting the Ducks down a set early. Tarolli & Bolduc had four kills each, with
Alyssa O'Neal right behind them with three. Defensively, O'Neal had a team-high eight digs, one better than
Lianna Schmieder.
The early goings of the second set played out much like the first, with the Ducks falling behind 3-0, then 6-2, then 9-4, but the Ducks again showed no quit, working the score back to 13-10, then reeled off four of the next five to tie at 14. Carnegie Mellon answered right back with five straight, opening a cushion that did not drop below three the rest of the set, as the Tartans took a 2-0 lead. O'Neal and Bolduc had five of the Ducks' nine kills in the frame.
Stevens again kept things close early in the third set, working 7-3 and 9-5 leads back to 7-5 and 9-7, but Carnegie Mellon closed the set and match with 16 of the final 19 points. O'Neal once again led the way offensively for the Ducks, putting away three of the team's seven kills.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- O'Neal fell one kill shy of her eighth double-double of the year, finishing with a team-high 17 digs to go along with her nine kills
- Harris and Brucculeri each had 10 assists, with Brucculeri adding three kills and Harris adding seven digs
- Schmieder had 14 digs, her fifth-highest total in the team's 21 three-set matches this season
UP NEXT
The Ducks return to the court in the Fall of 2026, seeking a seventh straight MAC Freedom Championship.
#AllRise
