Box Score OWINGS MILLS, Md. - Jeff Jones had 17 kills and Paul Konopacki added 14 to lead three players who had at least 10 as Ramapo totaled a .353 hitting percentage while snapping Stevenson's five-game winning streak with a 21-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-19 victory Sunday at Owings Mills Gymnasium.
The loss was also the first at home for the Mustangs (17-3, 7-3 Metro) who still own the nation's best record, but dropped them to third in the NECVA Metro Division standings, one-game behind Ramapo and two behind No. 10 Philadelphia Biblical.
Stevenson edged out a four-point victory in the first set after a 5-1 run broke a 13-13 tie and gave the team a four-point lead behind two kills each from sophomore Kyle Diller (Chambersburg, Pa./Chambersburg) and freshman Kalani Soeda (Kaneohe, Hawaii/LeHJardin Academy).
Ramapo (13-9, 8-2 Metro) evened the game in the second set after totaling 13 kills and taking advantage of nine Mustang attack errors as they posted just a .083 hitting percentage. The Roadrunners closed the set on an 11-4 spurt, five points of which came on Stevenson errors.
The third set was the turning point as Ramapo managed to sneak out a four-point victory after a grueling battle that featured 18 ties and seven lead changes. With the score tied at 20-20, the Roadrunners got three of the final five points on kills by Jones who totaled 10 of his game-high 17 in the set while not committing an error in 15 attempts.
Ramapo road the momentum of the third set in the fourth as it broke open a 3-3 tie with a 7-1 run that gave the team a commanding 10-4 lead. Fighting the momentum, frustration began to set in as the Stevenson bench received a yellow card that gave the Roadrunners its largest lead at eight, 20-12.
The Mustangs rallied to within four at 21-17, but could not get any closer as Ramapo sealed the win on a kill by Jones and a Stevenson attack error.
Freshman Austin Jacoby (Sellersville, Pa./Pennridge) led the Mustangs with a game-high 17 kills to go along with nine digs. He was the only player in double figures as Soeda and freshman Jon Martin (Lititz, Pa./Warwick) each had nine kills.
Freshman Adam Thatcher (Bel Air/C. Milton Wright) totaled a game-high 12 digs while Diller had five kills and a career-high 49 assists. Diller also had 49 assists in a 3-2 win over New Jersey City at home on February 19.
Andrew Brown added 10 kills for Ramapo while Joel Castro had nine. Mike Hrehovcik had nine digs and Andrew Balint totaled 53 assists and six digs.
Stevenson returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts a tri-match with Mount Olive and SUNYIT beginning at 3:30 p.m.