Men’s Volleyball has won their fifth consecutive Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Championship title after taking a 3-1 victory over Messiah College this past Saturday, April 11, at Canavan Arena. This victory rounds out their undefeated conference record at 8-0 and adds another win to their overall record of 25-5. Additionally, this was the fourth time the Ducks have faced off against Messiah in the conference championship game, with the Ducks winning each time.
The first set of the game was especially strong in the Ducks’ favor, with the set score being 25-6. In this set, the Ducks had a very strong start offensively, as they scored the first six points of the set and kept the pressure on Messiah throughout the set. The second set of the game was more challenging for the team. Both teams went back and forth until the Ducks gained a two–point lead by the halfway point of the set. It was here that Messiah took the lead and ultimately won the set by just three points. After this, the Ducks didn’t waver and maintained offensive momentum, as during the third set, the Ducks had the lead in points, ending with a 25-21 set score. The fourth set was truly the final sprint for the Ducks, with both teams going back and forth until junior Ryan Schmid recorded the winning kill for Stevens.
After the game, Schmid was named MAC Championship Most Valuable Player, highlighting his performance in the tournament that included 33 kills across two MAC Championship matches. In addition, many players had strong performances that contributed to this win, including senior Tyler Hoke, who had six blocks and five kills, graduate student Julius Stiemer, adding 14 kills and nine digs, sophomore Quinn Bozarth with 42 assists and six digs, and junior Dominic Ambrose with 11 digs.
Stevens is set to host the first rounds of the NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball Tournament at Canavan Arena, with Massachusetts Institute of Technology facing St. Joseph’s University Long Island, and Endicott College facing Lancaster Bible College on Thursday, April 16. On Friday, April 17, the Ducks will go up against the winner of MIT vs St. Joseph’s University Long Island for one of the First Round matches, and the winner of Endicott vs Lancaster Bible College will face off against California Lutheran University.
The winner of these first-round matches will then meet on Saturday, April 18, with the winner of that match advancing to the national semifinals.
