Stevens advances in NCAA Tournament with sweep of USMMA

Stevens advances in NCAA Tournament with sweep of USMMA

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Charles O'Brien

POTSDAM, N.Y. (November 10, 2017)  – Sophomore Shelby Stewart filled the stat sheet with four kills, three blocks and a career-high six aces as the Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team advanced to the Potsdam Regional semifinal with a sweep (25-20, 25-10, 25-16) of the United States Merchant Marine Academy Friday.

Sophomore Sara Hain set down a match-high nine kills and senior Emily Singleton added seven kills and a match-high five blocks for the Ducks, who improved to 27-7.

Merchant Marine, the Skyline Conference champion, received seven kills from Tichina Carmon and Kate Lefler. The Mariners finish the season 17-8.

Volleys and Points
  • Stevens opened its NCAA Tournament play with a kill by sophomore Taleen Mitchell. It's the second consecutive season that a sophomore registered Stevens' first point in the NCAAs. Then-sophomore Brianna Perez recorded an ace to open the match against Regis College.
  • After trading points, Stevens went on a seven-point run to open a 10-2 lead. Five of Stewart's six aces came during this stretch.
  • The Mariners would close to within three points, but the Ducks went on three, two-point runs to reach set point. An Alex Miller serving error gave Stevens the opening set.
  • The Ducks jumped out to an early lead in the second set with sophomore setter Julie Greco at the serve.
  • A block assist by Singleton and Stewart opened the scoring and a Singleton kill surrounded three Merchant Marine errors to open a 5-0 lead.
  • Back-to-back kills by Carmon and Jourdin Thompson got USMMA on the board, but a six-point swing, fueled by two errors and three Hain kills pushed the Stevens advantage to nine.
  • Kate Lefler put down a Kyleigh Kappas set to draw the Mariners to within eight, but the Ducks reeled off seven straight points to put the set out of reach. Three different Ducks set down Greco sets and back-to-back blocks handed Stevens set point.
  • Singleton and Greco teamed up for the final point of the second set to give Stevens a 2-0 lead in the match.
  • The final set began with USMMA grabbing its first lead of the match on an Emily Gramer kill.
  • Merchant Marine would open a 6-1 lead before Stevens began to close its deficit.
  • Kills by Singleton and sophomore Casey King began the comeback and five straight points with freshman Jillian Roumbanis serving completed it, with Stevens grabbing a 12-9 lead.
  • After taking control of the set, Stevens kept Merchant Marine at bay, maintaining at least a four-point edge over the remainder of the match.
  • A Stewart kill and another Mariner error opened a 21-13 lead for the second-seeded Ducks.
  • Merchant Marine would score three straight points to pull within five (21-16), before a setting error returned possession to Stevens.

Match Point
  • Four consecutive Merchant Marine errors closed out the match.

Inside the Numbers
  • Stevens hit .333 for the match, making only two errors in both the first and third sets. It's the third consecutive match, and 10th time this fall,  where Stevens recorded an attack percentage over .300.
  • The Ducks hit an outstanding 0.536 in the second set, recording 15 kills on 28 attacks without an error.
  • Six different players recorded at least one kill and four of the six did not make an attack error.
  • Greco led all players with 29 assists.
  • Mitchell collected a match-high 14 digs. Stevens totaled 45 digs on the afternoon; all eight players that saw the floor for Stevens recorded at least one dig..
  • Stewart's previous high in aces was four, set earlier this season. The Powell, Ohio native had not registered a collegiate service ace before this season.

Coach Speak
  • "Congrats to USMMA on a great season."
  • "Today, we played really clean, low-error volleyball, which is what we focus on a lot. If we can take care of our side and put the pressure on them, we're in good shape."

McShea on Regional Semifinal matchup with Ithaca
  • "We couldn't be more excited to face Ithaca again this season for the right to play for the region championship."
  • "We had such a battle in the last match, but we feel confident in our ability to get past them again."
  • "I'm looking forward to facing a familiar foe and seeing the girls rise to the occasion again."

Unsung Heroes
  • Stevens' attack was nearly perfect, only just four errors on the afternoon. Stewart and Hain combined for 13 kills on 25 attacks without an error (0.520 hit percentage).

Up Next
  • Stevens will take on Ithaca College in the regional semifinal. The match is scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m.
  • The Ducks upended the Bombers 3-1 on Oct. 27.
  • Ithaca swept Endicott in its opening-round match.
  • Live stats and video available on StevensDucks.com.