New York, N.Y. – The No. 4 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball team dropped a three-set match to No. 8 New York University on Tuesday evening.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Ducks (12-3) raced out to a 5-1 advantage, using a pair of kills from
Ryan Schmid and a kill from
Esteban Schmitt. Stevens maintained the advantage through the early portion of the frame before the Violets reeled off four straight points to tie the period at 12. The two sides jockeyed for position and saw ties at 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23 before the home side registered the final two points to claim the opening set.
Trailing 4-3 in the second, an ace from Schmid and a tandem block by
Nick Schmidt and
Greg Li pushed Stevens ahead 6-4. The Violets responded with four of the next points to regain the advantage, and the teams were once again deadlocked shortly after. Stevens used a 4-1 run, as Schmitt put down a kill and was aided by an ace from
Phillip Bone to go up 20-17. NYU reversed the momentum with a 6-0 run to bring up set point. Li put away a Schmidt set to fend off one set point, but NYU converted on the next opportunity to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
The nip-and-tuck third set went back-and-forth, as
Julius Stiemer,
Joshua Levandoske, and Li recorded early kills. Neither team led by more than two points until NYU reeled off four of five points to take a 16-13 advantage. Stevens did not go away, taking advantage of four errors, as Schmitt and Stiemer registered back-to-back blocks to put Stevens ahead 20-19. The Violets snapped a 21-21 tie with two consecutive points before Levandoske halted the run. A solo block brought up match point before the Ducks turned in three consecutive points to swing the momentum and give Stevens a chance to force a fourth set at 25-24. NYU regrouped and clinched the match with the final three points to secure the victory.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Stiemer posted a double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs while adding three block assists.
- Schmid led the offense with 14 kills, while Schmidt dished out 37 assists.
- At the net, Schmitt recorded five blocks (one solo) as Dominic Ambrose collected six digs.
UP NEXT
The Ducks open Middle Atlantic Conference play tomorrow night, heading to Glenside, Pa. for a 6:00 p.m. showdown against Arcadia.
