HOBOKEN, N.J. – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team, No. 6 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll, geared up for a critical pair of matches this coming weekend with a 3-0 win (25-11, 25-18, 25-20) over Arcadia Wednesday night in Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) action.

The Ducks did not trail at any point in the first two sets, then pulled away late in a back and forth third frame. Koby Sherman finished with an error-free 13-kill night, hitting .684. Esteban Schmitt hit .667 with six kills, and Sebastian Huyke had team highs with 19 assists & nine digs. As a team, the Ducks hit .423; Arcadia hit .074.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Stevens (17-3, 3-0 MACF) scored the first six points of the night, Sherman notching two kills and teaming with Greg Li for two assisted blocks. The lead grew to 12-2, with Schmitt adding a pair of kills during another spurt of five straight points for the Ducks.
At 14-5, the Ducks reeled off another seven straight, bookended by kills from Schmitt and Sherman with five Arcadia (7-12, 2-1 MACF) errors between the two. Arcadia drew as close as 23-11 before a service error and a Li kill closed out the set.

With the score 2-all in the second, three Sherman kills plus one from Tyler Hoke helped Stevens open a six-point cushion, which fluctuated between five and seven before a Sherman kill and Knights' attack error put the Red and Gray up 18-10.

The Ducks forced an Arcadia timeout at 21-13, eventually closing out the frame with a kill by Alex Olcott. The Ducks hit a match-best .538 during the set, putting down 14 kills without committing a single attack error.

Arcadia took its first lead at any point in any set in the third, taking four of the first five and six of the first 10 points. Three errors and a Bennett Heydorn kill put the Ducks up 8-6, then after two more Heydorn kills sandwiched between two Arcadia points, a Kevin Herbst/Hoke assisted block and Hoke solo block put the Ducks up 13-8.

The Ducks added another point out of an Arcadia timeout before the Knights closed to within 14-12. Stevens kept a 2–3 point lead until the 22-20 mark, when kills by Herbst & Cade Allen put the Ducks on match point, and Hoke closed out the sweep with a service ace.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Stevens committed just six attack errors, matching its lowest total of the season.
• Huyke surpassed 400 assists for the season and 750 assists for his career during the match.
• The Ducks hit at least .400 for the fourth time this season and have held their opponent to a hitting percentage under 10 percent in all four of those matches,
• The team's eight total blocks were their third-most in a three-set match this season.

UP NEXT
The Ducks host conference foe Widener and No. 1 NYU on Saturday, March 15, at Canavan Arena, the two matches slated to begin at 1:00 and 3:30, respectively.
 
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