NEW YORK, N.Y. – The Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team picked up a third straight sweep to open the 2026 season Tuesday evening against Baruch, knocking off the Bearcats 25-20, 25-19, 25-18.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first three points of the evening went to the Bearcats, but the Ducks rallied for their first lead at 12-11. The Bearcats kept things close, tying things at 15 and holding the margin to within three until the Ducks closed out the set with four of the final five points.
Julius Stiemer and
Phillip Bone combined for 10 of Stevens' 12 kills in the frame as the Ducks hit .280 as a team.
Stevens (3-0) withstood a trio of early two-point deficits to grab a two-point lead of their own, 8-6, in the second set, pushing the lead to 11-7, then 15-8, then 17-9. The Bearcats worked the frame back to 20-18, then 21-19, but two errors, plus two Stevens kills closed out the set and kept the Ducks comfortably in the driver's seat.
Tyler Hoke led the offense with three kills in the set, followed by
Greg Li and Bone with two each. Stiemer and Levandoske each added a service ace while the defense held the Bearcats to a .071 hitting percentage, by far the lowest for any team in any set of the match.
Perhaps still riding the momentum of the 4-0 run to close the second set, the Ducks opened a 9-4 lead in the third and held at least a three-point cushion the rest of the way, as the Bearcats failed to string together even three consecutive points at any point during the set. Bone (four), Stiemer (four), Hoke (three), and Li (two) all had multiple kills in the set, while Stiemer and Levandoske added three more service aces between them.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Stiemer had 11 kills, six digs, and three aces, all match-highs
- Bone had 10 kills for the second straight outing after recording just one match with double-digit kills all of last season
- Hoke had seven kills on seven swings for a perfect 1.000 hitting percentage
- Schmidt had 30 assists on the team's 35 kills
- The Ducks beat the Bearcats for the 13th straight time, having dropped just eight sets in those matches
UP NEXT
The Ducks will return to the court next Wednesday, January 28, at 7 PM against New Paltz.
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