HOBOKEN, N.J. – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team, No. 4 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll, survived a nail-biting first set in a sweep of No. 11 Hobart Friday night at Canavan Arena, 27-25, 25-15, 25-21.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Ducks scored the first two points of the evening, but conceded three of the next five and four of the next six, finally re-taking the lead on a
Phillip Bone kill;
Greg Li and
Tyler Hoke had kills for the Ducks third and fourth points, respectively. With the score tied at five, back-to-back Hobart errors gave Stevens another two-point cushion.
Kills by
Bennett Heydorn (two),
Koby Sherman, Bone, and Hoke, plus a joint block from Li/Olcott and a Hobart attack error left Stevens up 14-11, but Hobart reeled off five in a row for a two-point lead. Sherman put away another kill, pulling the Red and Gray back within one, but Hobart re-took and held at least a two-point lead until Olcott and Sherman (twice) reeled off three straight kills, knotting the set at 21.
Hobart responded with three of the next four, creating two set point opportunities, but the Ducks staved off both with kills by Hoke and Sherman. After Hobart's third set point was wiped out by an attack error, Olcott closed out the set with back-to-back kills.
Li joined forces with Sherman for a joint block and added a kill to open the second set. Hobart got one back, but followed it up with a service error; Olcott followed that up with a service ace, and another Li kill put Stevens up 5-1 and forced a Hobart timeout. The Statesmen took the first point out of the timeout, but a kill by Bone and three straight Hobart attack errors pushed the Ducks' advantage out to 9-2.
Hobart worked back to 10-5, but a kill, then service ace by Bone after a Statesmen service error made it 13-5. The visitors got a point back, but the Ducks opened a pair of 12-point cushions, thanks in large part to three kills by Bone, two by Li, and one from Olcott. The Statesman clawed back to 22-14, but Stevens put the set away with a
Sebastian Huyke kill and two Hobart service errors.
Stevens (9-2) conceded the first three points of the third set but bounced back to square things at five; Olcott had two kills and Sherman/Hoke had one each during the stretch.
Hobart went back in front, first 9-7 then 11-8, but a Li kill and joint block with Sherman pulled Stevens within one. After Hobart got one back, Sherman & Li tied things with back-to-back kills and a Li/Bone block put the Ducks up one. Hobart squared things at 13, but yet another Li kill, a Hoke/Bone block, and attack error put Stevens up 16-13.
After trading mini-spurts, with the score 18-16, a service error and Heydorn kill provided the Ducks a four-point cushion that did not dip below three points the rest of the set as the Red and Gray closed out their seventh sweep of the season.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The victory marked the Ducks' 57th straight home win.
- Li finished with a team-high (and career-high) 10 kills and an error-less hitting percentage of .769.
- Sherman surpassed 100 kills for the season with nine in the match, his eighth 8+ kill effort of the season.
- Bone and Olcott each had seven kills and eight digs; Olcott's had at least six kills in all seven matches he's played this year and Bone had at least seven and seven for the second time in his last three outings.
UP NEXT
The Ducks host No. 9 Wentworth and Drew in a tri-match, tomorrow, February 15. Match times are scheduled for 1:00 and 3:00 p.m., respectively.
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