ST. DAVIDS, Pa. (October 28, 2017)  – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team rebounded from an early setback to No. 6 Carnegie Mellon University to best Eastern University in four sets Saturday at the 2017 Eastern Fall Classic to conclude the 2017 regular season. 

In the opener, sophmore outside hitter Casey King collected 14 kills, but Lauren Mueller hit .410 (19-3-39) to lead the nationally-ranked Tartans to a 3-0 (26-24, 25-13, 25-19). Carnegie Mellon fell to Ithaca College 3-1 in its opening match to finish the day at 27-3. The Tartans will travel to Emory University as the top seed in the United Athletic Association (UAA) tournament, matching up with Brandeis University Tuesday.

In game two, King, the reigning Empire 8 Conference Player of the Week, recorded her 10th double-double of the season with 16 kills and 13 digs and classmate Taleen Mitchell hit .344 (15-4-32) as the Ducks avenged an early-season loss to the Eagles with a 3-1 (25-14, 25-27, 25-17, 25-20) victory. Sophomore Shelby Stewart matched a season-high with eight blocks for the Ducks, who finished the regular season with victories in seven of its last eight matches.

Caroline Shelby and Morgan Shemonski each had 11 kills for Eastern, who also fell to Ithaca to finish the regular season with an 18-12 record. The Eagles will host FDU-Florham in the opening round of the MAC Freedom Championship Wednesday.

Stevens will host the 2017 Empire 8 Conference Championship at Canavan Arena, beginning Saturday, November 4.

Volleys and Points (Carnegie Mellon)

• Consecutive kills by Mueller followed by a Maia So-Holloway ace opened a 3-0 lead for Carnegie Mellon to open the match. Mueller hit .533 in recording eight kills in the opening frame.
• Back-to-back kills by Mitchell sparked a four-point run that brought Stevens to within one (8-7).
• After a timeout, Stevens scored four straight points with kills by King and sophomore Sara Hain to draw even at 21.
• The teams would tie at 22, 23 and 24, before consecutive kills from Sahara Aqui and Heather Holton gave Carnegie Mellon the opening set.
• The Ducks were unable to reclaim the same momentum that contributed to its first-set comeback, falling behind by four points to open play in the second. 
• Two four-point runs opened an eight-point advantage for the Tartans. CMU received kills from three different players and a pair of aces in opening the lead.
• After a Jillian Roumbanis ace brought Stevens within four, Carnegie Mellon ran off six straight points to take control of the set. 
• Stewart, King and senior Emily Singleton successfully converted strong sets to close the deficit to 10, but the Tartans scored four of the next six points to win the set.
• For the third straight set, Carnegie Mellon scored the first points of the frame, recording an ace and a kill around a Stevens error to open a 3-0 lead.
• Five straight points forced a Stevens timeout and after the timeout, King converted a Julie Greco set to give Stevens its first successful attack of the set. The conversion sparked a brief rally that saw the Ducks close to within five at 15-10.
• A Sarah Jurgens attack error followed by another King kill brought the Ducks with four.
• A Stewart ace and a Hain kill brought Stevens within two (19-17 and 21-19), but Mueller answered with a kill on both occasions to regain the momentum for Carnegie Mellon.

Volleys and Points (Eastern)

• An Ally Spillane ace opened the match scoring.
• After the teams alternated points, Eastern opened a four-point lead on the strength of a pair of Stevens errors and a Cecilia Bauer ace.
• Tandem blocks by Singleton and Stewart and Mitchell and Hain drew the Ducks within two.
• After drawing even at eight, nine straight points gave Stevens a commanding 17-9 lead. Three blocks and two Sydni Horner aces sparked the dominating stretch.
• Consecutive points drew the hosts within seven at 20-13, but a Mitchell kill and consecutive Stewart aces brought Stevens to set point.
• A block by Singleton and Hain closed the opening stanza.
• The second set saw Stevens open a 5-1 lead on three straight kills.
• Eastern pulled ahead at 13-10 after six straight points on kills by Shemonski and Roberts and a pair of Morgan Kline aces.
• Kills by Singleton and Hain surrounded a Roumbanis ace that brought the teams to an 18-all tie.
• The teams alternated two-point surges until Stevens fought off a pair of set points to tie the set at 25.
• A Caroline Shelby kill preceded a setting error to close the set for Eastern and tie the match at one.
• Eastern would grab an early 2-1 to open play in the third set after consecutive errors by the Ducks. It would be Eastern's only lead of the frame.
• Two Eastern errors and a Mitchell kill opened a 6-3 lead for the Ducks.
• After Eastern pulled to within one (6-5), a four-point run punctuated by another Roumbanis ace opened a 10-5 lead.
• A second four-point run pushed the advantage to seven and proved to be too much for Eastern to overcome.
• The Eagles would close to within four points, but a King kill brought Stevens to set point and a Greco ace closed the frame.
• Trailing two sets to one, Eastern jumped in front in the fourth set, scoring the first three points.
• The Ducks would trail until the midway point of the set. King drew the Ducks to within one after pinning down a Greco feed. Consecutive solo blocks by Stewart opened a 10-8 lead.
• The Stevens block rejected a Shemonski attack and then forced a Shemonski error to open a four-point advantage.
• Eastern errors continued to produce points for the Ducks with consecutive errors pushing the Stevens lead to 18-14. Back-to-back Roumbanis aces and a Mitchell kill swelled the lead to seven,
• A four-point swing by the hosts trimmed the lead to three, but Mitchell knocked down a Greco set to force match point and Stevens did not waste its first opportunity to close out the match.

Match Point (Carnegie Mellon)

• Three straight Stevens errors closed the match for the Tartans.

Match Point (Eastern)

• A Caroline Shelby attack error closed the match. It was Eastern's 13th error of the set.

Inside the Numbers (Carnegie Mellon)

• Stevens hit .149 for the match, while Carnegie Mellon hit .258.
• In the opening set, Stevens hit .311, making only one error. 
• CMU recorded eight aces versus three for Stevens. 
• Each team recorded two blocks.
• Greco led all players with 25 assists.

Inside the Numbers (Eastern)

• Stevens had dropped its two previous contests to the Eagles. Eastern bested Stevens in three sets in last year's NCAA Hoboken Regional Championship and then rallied to defeat the Ducks in five sets at September's Haverford Invitational.
• The Ducks outhit Eastern .237-.120.
• Although Stevens won the opening set 25-14, each team recorded nine kills.
• Stevens held Eastern to single-digit attacks in the first and third sets.
• Behind Stewart's eight blocks, Stevens held a 13-6 edge at the net. Six different players recorded at least one block.
• Six different players recorded aces as Stevens recorded 12 aces as a team.
• Greco recorded 41 assists. It was the eighth performance of 40 assists or more for the Thornwood, New York native.

Coach Speak

• "Today was a good test for us."
• "We face a good defense in Carnegie to start the day and couldn't quite find their holes."
• "I'm happy with the way we were able to bounce back and beat last year's regional final opponent. We were able to bring back our tough serving to allow us to feel more in control and keep the pressure on them."

Unsung Heroes

• "[Jillian Roumbanis] played incredible today. She passed near-perfect against Carnegie and kept that alive against Eastern."
• "[Casey King] was also great today. She was able to minimize errors against both teams and find the weaknesses in their defense."

Up Next

• Stevens opens the 2017 Empire 8 Conference Championship with a semifinal match with fourth-seeded Alfred University.
• All games in the championship tournamet will be played in Canavan Arena.
• The Ducks swept the Saxons on Sept. 15.
• Live stats and video links are available on StevensDucks.com.

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