HOBOKEN, N.J. – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team, No. 6 in the preseason American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, opened the 2026 season with a pair of sweeps Friday night in a tri-match with Saint Joseph's-Long Island and Drew.

Stevens (2-0) went 25-16, 25-16, 25-11 over the Golden Eagles in the first match of the day and 25-16, 25-18, 25-12 over the Rangers in the nightcap.

HOW IT HAPPENED (SJ-LI)
Four Golden Eagles errors and kills from Alex Olcott, Ryan Schmid, and Esteban Schmitt, plus two kills and a service ace from Phillip Bone put the Ducks up 10-5 in the first set. Several mini-runs from each side produced a 21-16 lead for the Ducks, who took advantage of three Golden Eagles errors over the next four points to close out the set.

The second set started with the opening 20 points traded back and forth, Stevens holding a series of 1-2 point leads. After a 10-6 Stevens lead became 12-10, back-to-back-back kills from Schmid, Olcott, and Bone put the Ducks up 15-10. Three Golden Eagles errors and kills from Olcott and Schmitt put the Ducks up 20-12. The Ducks took a two-set lead courtesy of an attack error and two kills each from Schmid and Olcott.

Saint Joseph's-Long Island took their first lead at any point in any set, 3-2, in the third, but Stevens took the next six points for a five-point cushion, capped by three straight Golden Eagles attack errors. At 9-5, two Olcott kills and two more errors pushed the gap out to 13-5. The Golden Eagles trimmed a point off the deficit, working back to 16-9, but an additional four errors, two kills and a service ace from Tyler Hoke made it 23-9. The Ducks closed out the match three points later following a Cade Allen kill and Golden Eagles service error.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE (SJ-LI)

• Stevens hit at least 0.333 in each set, including a match-best .524 in the third set (12 kills, one error, 21 swings)
• Olcott finished with a team-high 12 kills, hitting .550
• As a team, the Ducks hit .392; Saint Joseph's-Long Island hit -.080
• Nick Schmidt had a career-high 34 assists

HOW IT HAPPENED (Drew)
Neither team held a multi-point lead in the opening set until a 7-0 Stevens run turned an 8-7 deficit into a 14-8 lead, including three Bennett Heydorn service aces in a string of four points. The cushion was squeezed back to 14-10, but the three Rangers errors in a string of four points kickstarted a 10-4 run that put the Ducks on set point, which Julius Stiemer put away with his fourth kill of the frame. The Ducks tallied five service aces in the set after recording four in the entire MATCH against Saint Joseph's-Long Island.

Stevens conceded the first two points of the second set but took six of the next seven and 12 of the next 15, Heydorn adding another pair of service aces with Joshua Levandoske and Stiemer each adding two kills. Drew worked the deficit back to three on two occasions, but a 6-1 spurt keyed by four Rangers errors kept the Ducks comfortably in front, 20-12. Two kills each from Stiemer and Levandoske and a set point service error put the Ducks up two sets.

The Ducks day of dominance culminated in the third set as the team opened a 6-1 lead and maintained at least a four-point cushion the rest of the set, taking 17 of the final 25 points of the set (and match).

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE (Drew)

• Stiemer had a match-high 12 kills, hitting .500, adding six total blocks
• Heydorn had six service aces, more than the Ducks as a team had in 25 matches last season
• Quinn Bozarth had a career-high 24 assists
• Bozarth, Heydorn, and Levandoske each had a team-high five digs

UP NEXT
The Ducks hit the road next Tuesday, January 20, for a 7:00 start at Baruch.

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