SWARTHMORE, Pa. (Sept. 11, 2021) – The Stevens Institute of Technology women’s volleyball team continued its hot start to the 2021 season with two more victories Saturday, defeating Lebanon Valley College 3-1 (25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 25-15) and Marymount University 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-18) to win their seventh straight to open the year.
First-year Parker Adkins put down 13 kills in both matches on the day and tallied the same number of kills in all three contests of the Garnet Quad to lead the Ducks to a 3-0 weekend. Adkins saved her best performance for last with 13 kills and a .385 attack percentage to go along with three digs in the win over Marymount.
Senior Ava Smithing joined Adkins in double figures in kills against the Saints with 12 on just 17 swings for a career-best .579 attack percentage.
In the first match of the day, senior Elizabeth Chu was all over the court, matching her career-high with 34 digs as well as an ace and three assists. Sophomores Megan Dion and Liz Patterson were also solid offensively with eight kills apiece in the 3-1 win over LVC.
The Ducks held both opponents under a .150 attack percentage on the day and have now held every opposing team to under that mark this season.
Volleys and Points (Match One)
- The Dutchmen started out hot in the opening set of the contest scoring the first four points to jump out to an early lead.
- Trailing 15-10, the Ducks climbed back into the contest with four consecutive points of their own after a Patterson kill, a double block from senior Kathleen Riegner and Dion and a Madison Sappia service ace.
- Stevens found themselves down four once again at 19-15 before making a run to take the opening set.
- The Ducks went on a 9-1 run highlighted by kills from Adkins and sophomore Elle Maggio as well as two Patterson blocks to reach a set point at 24-20.
- LVC was able to stave off two set points, but not a third as Riegner dumped over the net for her first kill of the match to seal the 25-22 win.
- The second set saw the Dutchmen take an early edge once again with a 4-0 run fueled by three Stevens errors to lead 6-3.
- On top 7-6, LVC’s Reily Shelly stepped to the service line and scored five straight points thanks to a pair of service aces and three Duck errors to push the lead to 12-6.
- Behind 20-16, Stevens was able to climb back to within one with three straight points after two kills by first-year Cleo Shannon and another from Smithing to make it 20-19.
- Leading 21-20, the Dutchmen scored four of the final six points on three kills by Mikiah Sangrey to win 25-22 and tie things up at a set apiece.
- After falling behind early in the first two sets, Stevens made sure it didn’t happen again in the third, scoring nine of the first 12 points to take an early six-point lead.
- The Ducks got help from a variety of options in the 9-3 run with points from Patterson, Dion, Chu, Adkins and Maggio.
- With the score 18-9 in favor of Stevens, LVC did not fold, using a 5-0 run to make the score 18-14.
- Stevens responded with a 4-0 run of their own featuring a pair of kills by Dion and looked like they would take the set with ease up 22-14.
- The Ducks reached set point up 24-19 but the Dutchmen made things interesting as they fended off four consecutive set points for the Ducks to make the score 24-23.
- The fifth set point was the charm for Stevens, however, as a Sangrey error gave the Ducks a 25-23 win and a 2-1 advantage.
- The fourth set started similarly to the third as three separate 4-0 runs for Stevens gave them an early 13-5 edge.
- All three 4-0 flurries were highlighted by Adkins who scored five of the 12 points in the rallies.
- On top 19-14, the Ducks put the contest away late by grabbing six of the final seven points of the match thanks to three service aces, two from Sappia and one by Enkhsanaa Enkhbayar to win 25-15 and take the match 25-15.
Match Point
- Coming in off the bench, Enkhbayar stepped to the service line and found the court with her first ace of the night to seal the win.
Inside the Numbers (Match One)
- Stevens hit .139 in the contest compared to a .060 attack percentage for LVC.
- The decisive fourth set saw the Ducks with their biggest edge in hitting percentage with a .196 to -.086 advantage.
- After not registering a block last time out against Swarthmore, Stevens set a new season-best with nine blocks against LVC.
- The Ducks were dynamite at the service line once again with eight aces compared to five for the Dutchmen.
- Riegner ran an efficient offense with 42 assists while also adding seven digs, three kills, three blocks and two aces.
- Adkins nearly produced a double-double with 13 kills and nine digs in the win.
- Sappia led the way for Stevens in aces with three while also getting into double figures in digs with 12.
- Dion led the Ducks at the net with four blocks while adding eight kills.
- Sophomore Elizabeth Banas made her collegiate debut and collected her first collegiate kill in the win.
Volleys and Points (Match Two)
- Much like the Dutchmen did in the first match of the day, the Saints jumped out to an early lead in the opening set by scoring the first four points thanks to four Stevens errors.
- Trailing 10-7, the Ducks were able to bounce back with a 5-0 run fueled by three Stevens blocks by Dion, Maggio and Patterson.
- After Marymount responded with a 4-0 run of their own, Stevens tied things up at 21-21 late in the opening set.
- The Ducks closed things out by taking four of the final five points highlighted by kills from Dion and Maggio to win 25-22.
- The Saints again found themselves on top with a quick 5-0 run early thanks to back-to-back Maya Harris service aces.
- Once again, Stevens had to climb back into the contest and did so in a big way with a 10-1 run that saw a little bit of everything to take a 12-7 lead.
- The rally featured kills by Chu, Dion, Riegner, Adkins and Smithing as well as aces by Sappia and Dion.
- The Ducks then rattled off five straight points thanks to a pair of Smithing kills to push the lead to eight at 17-9.
- On top 19-15, first-year Nicole Scribner went on a run at the service line with five straight points capped off by an ace to give Stevens a set point at 24-15.
- A service error by the Saints gave Stevens the win 25-16 and put them on top 2-0.
- The third set was dominated by the Ducks from the jump with Stevens scoring 11 of the first 15 points to take an early seven-point lead.
- 10 of the 11 points to open the stanza were earned by the Ducks with kills by Maggio, Patterson, Adkins, Dion and Smithing as well as aces from Dion and Chu.
- Trailing 20-14, the Saints climbed back to within three with a quick 3-0 flurry to force a Stevens timeout.
- The stoppage proved to be the right call for the Ducks as they were able to grab five of the final six points of the match thanks in large part to Maggio, Smithing and Adkins kills.
Match Point (Match Two)
- Tied with Smithing for the most kills in the match with 12, Adkins made sure to finish on top as she put down her 13th kill to seal the 3-0 sweep.
Inside the Numbers (Match Two)
- Stevens set a season-best with a .286 attack percentage while holding Marymount to .146.
- The Ducks held a 6-2 edge in blocks, a 9-4 edge in aces and a 48-28 edge in kills.
- Maggio nearly joined Smithing and Adkins in double-digit kills by putting down nine on 20 swings to hit .300.
- Chu was up to her usual defensive prowess in the backend with 21 digs as well as a team-high four aces.
- Riegner dished out 38 assists and added five digs and two kills in the win.
- Dion was once again a force defensively at the net with a team-high five blocks while Maggio totaled three of her own.
- The Ducks’ 7-0 start is the best since the 2013 season when Stevens started 12-0.
Unsung Hero (Both Matches)
- Sappia combined to total 20 digs and five aces across the two matches. The sophomore from Wellington, Fla., has at least one ace in every game for the Ducks this season.
From the Sidelines (Head Coach Brianna Jones)
- “The team had a blast competing today. This team never gives up and that fight is so much fun to watch!”
Next Up
- Stevens returns to MAC Freedom competition Tuesday as they travel to Dallas, Pa., to take on Misericordia at 7:00 p.m.
- The Ducks have won each of the three matches between the two schools including a pair of 3-0 sweeps in 2019, the second of which came in the MAC Freedom Semifinals.
- A win for Stevens would be the 60th consecutive regular season conference win for the Ducks.
- Live stats and video will be available on StevensDucks.com.
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