Yonkers, N.Y. – Stevens Institute of Technology's women's volleyball team dominated on both sides of the net Thursday night in a four-set road win over Sarah Lawrence College.
Stevens (3-1) tallied at least 13 kills and hit over .240 in three of four sets while holding the Gryphons under .100 in three sets, taking the match 25-15, 23-25, 25-17, 25-16.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Neither side took a lead bigger than two through the opening 15 points, before the Ducks reeled off seven straight, flipping an 8-7 deficit to a 14-8 lead; sophomores
Alyssa O'Neal and
Julianne Danis each had three kills for Stevens in the early going, while the defense stifled Sarah Lawrence's offense (-.059 hit percentage through first 17 Gryphons swings). At 17-11, the Ducks left no chance for a Sarah Lawrence rally, taking the next six for a 12-point lead, closing out the seven points later. O'Neal and Danis combined for nine kills in the set to six total for Sarah Lawrence, whom the Ducks held to a .080 hitting percentage while posting a .357 mark of their own.
After cruising through much of the opening set, Stevens showed plenty of resolve throughout the second. The Ducks fell behind 3-0, responded with five of the next six points for a 5-4 edge, then conceded 10 of the next 13 as the Gryphons opened a 14-8 cushion. The Ducks worked the deficit back to a single point at 17-16, then again at 20-19, eventually knotting things at 23-all before the Gryphons took the final two points of the cat-and-mouse set. Danis and classmate
Eva Tarolli each had four kills in the frame for the Ducks, who hit .179 in the frame to Sarah Lawrence's .313.
Throughout the third, the Ducks kept the Gryphons largely at bay. Leading 6-5, Stevens utilized a pair of 5-1 runs for a 16-9 cushion that did not dwindle below five the rest of the set. O'Neal and Danis again set the tone offensively, totaling 11 kills, matching Sarah Lawrence's team total – as a team the Ducks were back over 30 percent (.345) and held the Gryphons to a minuscule .053 clip, with nine errors on 38 swings.
Stevens' command on both sides of the net continued through the entirety of a fourth set in which the Ducks dropped more than two straight points only once. Stevens led the frame 4-1, 7-2, and 9-3 early on, then withstood a 6-3 spurt from Sarah Lawrence with nine of the next 13, expanding the margin to 21-13. Three attack errors put Stevens on match point, where Danis put away her 16
th kill of the match to close things out. The Ducks conceded just four kills in the set among nine Gryphons attack errors, a -.147 hitting percentage.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Junior Alexa Brucculeri finished with a season-high 47 assists, more than she had in six total sets across the Ducks two sweeps last Saturday
- Senior Kileen McNeill set a career high in kills for the second time this season, finishing with nine, hitting .438 to boot
- Danis' 16 kills were a career-best
- O'Neal finished with a season-best 14 kills, her third 12+ kill performance this season
- First-year Cadence Sturt had 17 digs, one off her season-best 18 set in last Friday's season opener against MIT
UP NEXT
Stevens will play its first home tri-match of the season Saturday at Canavan Arena. The Ducks will play the first and last matches of the day, against Kean at 11:30 AM and Swarthmore at 3:30 PM.
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