Next game:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
03/23/2023 | 7 p.m.
March 23 (Thu) / 7 p.m.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
History
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (March 18, 2023) – Sophomore Koby Sherman had 19 kills and six digs in Game 1, while junior Carver Weirick recorded 17 kills and 13 digs in Game 2, as No. 1 of the men’s Stevens Institute of Technology. volleyball beat Stevenson University (25-16, 25-21, 22-25, 25-22) and King’s College in four sets (22-25, 25-12, 25-19, 25-18 ) Saturday afternoon in an Atlantic Conference (MAC) Middle Tri-game played at Owings Mills Gymnasium.
Sherman had 21.5 points in Game 1 against Stevenson (7-13, 0-2). Senior Percy Bickford and freshman Tyler Hoke added nine kills to help the Ducks win their first of two games on the day. The loss ended a two-game winning streak for the Mustangs. Stevens is now 10-1 against conference rivals.
Later in the day, Weirick led the way for the top-ranked Ducks against King’s (17-4, 1-2). The loss pushed the Monarchs to four straight losses after starting the season 17-0. Seniors Alex Franke and Nathan Lancia each added 12 kills for the Ducks (25-2; 6-0), who extended their winning streak to 21 after the two wins. Stevens also extended their current winning streak to 14 as they improve to 4-0 against King’s.
Stevens took a 2-1 lead in the opener against Stevenson. Senior Louden Moran hit an ace and recorded a kill. The two teams would split the next four points, but the Ducks would follow that up with five straight points to give them a 9-3 lead. The Mustangs followed with three points alone. Later in the set with the Ducks leading 16-8, reigning MAC Offensive Player of the Week Phillip Bone and second Koby Sherman each recorded kills to give the Ducks a ten-point lead. Stevens closed the set with a kill from Christopher Varseveld to give the Ducks the first set.
Stevenson scored the first point in set number two again, but the Ducks scored the next two points again on kills from Sherman and Hoke. The two teams traded points for most of the second period, with the score 16-13 in favor of the Mustangs after 29 points. Stevens scored 12 of the last 16 points to take a 2-0 lead over the Mustangs. Sherman had three and Bone had two to help the Ducks finish the set.
Facing a sweep, the Mustangs opened with an 11-6 run to open the third set. Down 12-8 later, Sherman and Bone combined for three straight wins as part of a four-point run to tie the set at 12. The two teams traded the next 14 points as things remained tied at 19. The Mustangs would win six of the last nine to win set three 25-22.
Trailing 1-0 in the final set, Bickford registered a kill and Moran had an ace on serve to take an early 2-1 lead. Later tied at four, the Ducks had five straight points. Varseveld had a kill to start the run while Sherman recorded two aces. Stevenson would eventually come back into the set as they took a 17-15 lead. Stevens scored five of the next six points with Varseveld, Bone and Bickford each recording wins. Both teams went back and forth the rest of the way with Hoke registering the last kill to give the Ducks the win.
The Ducks came out flat in their second game of the day, giving up seven of the first ten points to King’s. Later, 17-11, Stevens scored five of the next six points to cut the deficit to two. Weirick opened the run with a kill while Lancia added two to energize the Ducks. Now trailing 23-19, Weirick registered three kills as he tried to keep Stevens alive, but they eventually gave up the opening set for the eighth time this season, 25-22.
The Ducks didn’t mess around in the second set winning 25-12 to even things up. Leading 9-7, the Ducks led 12-1 as their lead blew to 16-8. Lancia managed two wins while graduate Colin Nikc had an ace on the run. Later 17-10, the Ducks closed the frame on an 8-2 run thanks to five Monarchs errors.
King held firm in the third set as the teams split the first 14 points of the third set. Stevens killed any Monarchs momentum by winning the second set 25-19 with 11 of Duck’s 25 points on errors by King. Franke and Weirick led the offense with three kills apiece.
Stevens found himself trailing 10-6 again to start set number four as the Monarchs tried to force a fifth set. The Ducks had other plans as they scored the next seven points, powered by Weirick and Lancia, to take a 13-10 lead. Later, 19-17, Stevens scored six of the last seven points to claim his second victory of the day. Sophomore Sebastian Huyke had two aces while Weirick added three more kills to help the Ducks eliminate the Monarchs.
Inside the numbers
Stevens beat his opponents in both games. They finished with a .279 hit percentage to Stevenson’s .214 in Game 1, while they posted a .270 hit percentage in Game 2 to King’s .137. Five Ducks recorded double-digit searches that day. Junior Phu-Quy Ho notched a career-high 16 against Stevenson, while second Jesse Knuckles had a career-high 15 against King’s. Moran provided 43 assists and recorded eight digs in the win over Stevenson. Nikc 49 assists and 11 digs in the game against King’s. Stevens committed 38 errors over the two games, while their opponents combined for 48. The Ducks had 12 service aces that day, recording six in each game. Five Ducks had two. Three Ducks: Lancia, Weirick and Nikc recorded double-doubles against King’s.
Following
The No. 1 men’s volleyball team returns home on Thursday, March 23 as it takes on Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in non-conference action. The Ducks are 13-2 against MIT, including nine straight wins. Links for live stats and video from both games are available at StevensDucks.com.
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