HOBOKEN, N.J. -- Patrick Dorywalski recorded his 500th-career win in Stevens' 3-0 victory against Baruch in the NCAA Men's Volleyball Quarterfinal match on Friday 25-19, 25-19 and 25-17.
Stevens is on a 20-match winning streak and improved to 29-4 overall. Baruch ended their season 25-10.
The Ducks raced out to an early 8-3 lead in the opening period with senior Ryan Seifert recording a kill as well as a service ace. Baruch scored three of the next four, capped off by a kill from Brady Ambro. The teams then traded 3-0 runs to make the score 12-10 in favor of Stevens.Baruch would keep the match to a one point deficit for the next couple points, but a match altering 5-0 run with kills from senior David Evans and Seifert added with two unforced errors brought the Ducks to set point. After a kill from Nick Smith ended the run, an Ambro attack error handed set one to Stevens.
A 3-0 run to begin the second stanza saw the hosts grab a 6-4 lead, capped off with an ace by junior Tim Ferriter. Stevens used another trio of points in a row, including a kill and an ace by Evans to force Baruch into their first timeout of the set.
The Bearcats cut the deficit down to four after a solo block by Chris Kaimis, but a 4-0 rebuttal by the Ducks doubled their lead with Ferriter, Seifert and sophomore Jordan Stuart each tallying a kill during the run.
A ball-handling mistake put the Stevens up 24-16, but Baruch was able to convert the next three points to attempt the comeback bid. The comeback dream didn't last, as an Evans kill punctuated set two.
The opening of the third set saw the visitors score five of the first seven points, but the Ducks rallied to knot the match at six thanks to an ace from Ferriter. Stevens was able to pull away from their opponents with a mid-match 4-0 rally with Seifert notching a pair of service aces. An Evans kill ended the match and handed coach Dorywalski the milestone victory in his 25 year at the helm.
Stevens hit .298 as a club, including .375 in the deciding set where Baruch hit .143 in the third set. Seifert and Evans each racked up 12 kills, with senior Dylan Schlosser and Ferriter notching eight and seven digs respectively. Junior John Eddins and senior Kevin Aeckerle handed out a combined 32 assists.
Smith and Kaimis had 11 kills each while Scott Standring dished out 30 assists.
