OWINGS MILLS, Md. (March 18, 2023) – Sophomore Koby Sherman had 19 kills and six digs in the first match, while and junior Carver Weirick registered 17 kills and 13 digs in match two, as No. 1 Stevens Institute of Technology men’s volleyball defeated both 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 a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) tri-match played at Owings Mills Gymnasium.
Sherman accounted for 21.5 points in the first match against Stevenson (7-13, 0-2). Senior Percy Bickford and first-year Tyler Hoke added nine kills to help the Ducks win their first of two matches on the day. The loss ended a two-game winning streak for the Mustangs. Stevens is now 10-1 all-time against their 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 losing streak to four 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 conference winning streak to 21 after both victories. Stevens also extended its current winning streak to 14 as they improve to 4-0 all-time against King’s.
Stevens jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the opening match 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 of their own. Later on in the set with the Ducks up 16-8, reigning MAC Offensive Player of the Week Phillip Bone and sophomore Koby Sherman each recorded kills to give the Ducks a ten point lead. Stevens would close the set with a kill from Christopher Varseveld to give the first set to the Ducks.
Stevenson again scored the first point in set number two, but the Ducks scored the next two points again on kills from Sherman and Hoke. The two teams traded points throughout most of the second frame, with the score being 16-13 in favor of the Mustangs after 29 points. Stevens would score 12 of the final 16 points to take a 2-0 lead on the Mustangs. Sherman had three and Bone had two to help the Ducks close out the set.
Facing a sweep, the Mustangs opened up with a 11-6 run to open up the third set. Down 12-8 later on, Sherman and Bone combined for three straight kills 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.
Down 1-0 in the final set, Bickford recorded a kill and Moran had a service ace to take an early 2-1 lead. Later tied at four, the Ducks rattled off five straight points. Varseveld had one kill to start the run while Sherman recorded two aces. Stevenson would end up coming back in the set as they took a 17-15 lead. Stevens scored five of the next six points with Varseveld, Bone, and Bickford each recording kills. The two teams would go back and forth the rest of the way with Hoke recording the final kill to give the Ducks the victory.
The Ducks came out flat in their second game of the day, dropping seven of the first ten points to King’s. Later down 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 recorded three kills as he tried to keep Stevens alive, but they ultimately dropped the opening set for the eighth time this season, 25-22.
The Ducks did not mess around in the second set winning 25-12 to tie things up. Leading 9-7, the Ducks went on 12-1 run as their lead ballooned 16-8. Lancia had two kills while graduate Colin Nikc had an ace on the run. Later up 17-10, the Ducks closed out the frame on a 8-2 run thanks to five errors from the Monarchs.
King’s hung tough in the third set as the teams split the first 14 points of set three. Stevens killed any momentum the Monarchs had by winning the second set 25-19 with 11 of the 25 Duck points coming on King’s errors. Franke and Weirick led the offense with three kills each.
Stevens found themselves again down 10-6 to begin set number four as the Monarchs tried to force a fifth set. The Ducks had other plans as they scored the next seven points, fueled by Weirick and Lancia, to take a 13-10 lead. Later up 19-17, Stevens scored six of the final seven points to earn their second victory on the day. Sophomore Sebastian Huyke had two aces while Weirick added three more kills to help the Ducks close out the Monarchs.
Inside the Numbers
- Stevens outhit their opponents in both games. They finished with a .279 attack percentage compared to Stevenson’s .214 in game one, while they posted a .270 hitting percentage in game two compared to .137 from King’s.
- Five Ducks recorded double-digit digs on the day. Junior Phu-Quy Ho notched a career-best 16 against Stevenson, while sophomore 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 match against King’s.
- Stevens committed 38 errors across the two matches, while their opponents combined for 48.
- The Ducks totaled 12 service aces on the day, recording six in each contest. Five Ducks had two.
- Three Ducks: Lancia, Weirick and Nikc recorded double-doubles against King’s.
Up Next
- No. 1 Men’s Volleyball returns home on Thursday, March 23 as they take on Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in non-conference action. The Ducks are 13-2 all-time against MIT, including winning nine straight.
- Links for live stats and video for both matches are available on StevensDucks.com.
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