No. 3 Stevens downs Stevenson in four sets to advance to Final Four
Charles O'Brien
HOBOKEN, N.J. (April 21, 2018) – No. 3 Stevens Institute of Technology men's volleyball defeated Stevenson University in four sets (25-23, 30-32, 25-21, 25-17) Saturday evening to earn a spot in the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship Final Four.
"It was a hard-fought match," said assistant coach
Amable Martinez. "We came out a bit flat in the first two sets, but managed to win one. Midway through the third set, we had to make a few changes and get a spark off the bench and it worked out for us today."
Graduate student
Gabe Shankweiler recorded a match-high 19 kills and junior Dylan DeBoer filled the stat sheet with 17 kills, two blocks, five digs and an ace for Stevens, who improved to 26-4 on the year and will advance to the final four for the fourth consecutive year. Stevens will meet No. 7 Dominican University, who bested No. 2 Carthage College in four sets earlier this evening.
Jason Gardner led Stevenson with 17 kills and Jared Chin handed out 30 assists for Stevenson, who finished the season at 22-9. The first-ever Middle Atlantic Conference champions were making their first NCAA appearance since 2016.
A back-and-forth battle over the first three sets, Stevens posted a 0.342 attack percentage for the match, but hit a match-high 0.458 (13-2-24) in the final set. Stevens recorded eight more kills than the guests, and eight different players recorded a kill.
"Our pins were the difference today," Martinez added. "Both Dylan and Gabe had outstanding matches to lead us into the national semifinals."
In the opening set, neither team gained more than three-point advantage in the early going, with the sides combined for six ties over the first 20 points. A strong attack saw three different players record a kill during a key stretch that saw the Ducks open a 17-12 lead. A feisty Stevenson team closed to within one at 19-18, but DeBoer and Shankweiler kept the advantage for the home team as Shankweiler pinned down a Jacob Patterson set to give Stevens set point. Stevenson briefly remained in the set on a service error, but Lehman emphatically killed a Patterson pass to give the Ducks the opening set. Lehman finished with 11 kills and Patterson finished with 39 assists.
The second set saw Stevenson jump out to an early 3-0 lead and the lead grew to as many as four before the Ducks attempted to rally. The Stevenson serve, which caused trouble for Elms in Stevenson's opening-round match, caused trouble for Stevens throughout the early portion of the frame as the Mustangs totaled four aces in the frame. Stevens rallied to tie the set at 17, with DeBoer serving as the difference maker. The Vernon Hills, Illinois native recorded an ace, a kill and forced an attack error with a tricky serve during the set-tying rally. Stevens pulled ahead in the stanza on three consecutive Mustang errors, but Stevenson fought off seven set points before a Landon Shorts kill finally closed the set and tied the match.
Using the momentum from its second-set victory, Stevenson raced out to the lead in the third set at 6-4 and held maintained the lead into the middle stages of the stanza, only to see Stevens rally with a pair of two-point rallies to tie the set 17. A Grant Burden error pushed the serve back to the visitors with a two-point lead, however sophomore Jonathan Frenzel's play in the middle and Lehman's attacks on the outside turned the tide of the match. With Gardner serving, Shankweiler was able to set down a Burden set to return possession to Stevens. With the Allentown, Pennsylvania native serving, the Ducks reeled off five straight points to close out the set, 25-21. Shankweiler's serves turned into two Stevenson errors, while Frenzel paired with Lehman to reject a Nate Reynolds attack and ferociously threw down a Burden set to close out the frame.
In the final set, it was Stevens that played like its season was on the line, scoring the first seven points of the set. After a Shorts error gave the hosts possession of the serve, Frenzel slammed down a Stevenson over ball and the Ducks blocked consecutive Stevenson attacks to take a commanding lead, with Frenzel in the middle of both plays. Stevenson trimmed the deficit to five, but kills from DeBoer and senior Thomas Burrell pushed the lead to 19-10. Burrell finished with six kills and three blocks. Leading 22-16, the Ducks scored three of the final four points of the match to earn a 3-1 victory.
Up Next: Stevens heads to Kenosha, Wisconsin for the Final Four, where a match with Dominican awaits. The Ducks and the Stars tangled twice in 2017, with Dominican coming on top in the regular season, while the Ducks earned a victory in the NCAA Tournament. The match will be on April 27 at 7:30 p.m. (local time).