Box Score
OWINGS MILLS, Md.. – The Stevenson men's volleyball team saw a familiar face across the court from them at Owings Mills Gymnasium on Wednesday night in the form of former Continental Volleyball Conference foe Marymount University. With the help of a combined 24 kills from juniors Landon Shorts and Jason Gardner the Mustangs were victorious over the third-ranked Saints by a final of 3-1.
Stevenson (12-6), won their second match in a row and eight of their last nine by set scores of 25-20, 23-25, 25-16, and 25-20. It was the first victory for the Mustangs over Marymount since 2016.
Gardner led the way with a team-high 15 kills hitting .314, seven digs, and seven block assists as well as one solo block. Shorts posted nine kills, five digs, three aces, and a pair of block assists. Freshman Logan Smiley finished with eight kills, and seven digs. Senior Alex Klunk totaled five kills and a pair of solo blocks. The setting duo of junior Jared Chin and freshman Aleks Melbardis racked 38 assists, with Chin dishing out 24. Sophomore libero Derek Tangorra had a game-high twelve digs.
Third-ranked Marymount (14-5), was paced by a game-high 21 kills and 11 digs from TJ Wiechecki. Remington Shahan ended the night with 11 kills and five digs. Sam Safley added nine kills, four digs, and two aces. Erich Bratke handed out a game-high 47 assists.
The match started out even with the two sides splitting the opening four points as a kill from Shorts leveled the score 2-2. Marymount grabbed a 6-3 lead after a kill by Safley capped a 4-1 push. The Saints continued to hold the advantage by about four all the way out to 12-8 on an attack error coming off the arm of Gardner. Consecutive home kills from Klunk and Gardner trimmed the margin to 12-10, but the ensuing two went the way of the Saints to extend it out to 14-10. With the score at 16-12, Stevenson mounted a comeback using three straight away side errors along with a kill by Gardner to draw even 16-16. Each team would take three of the following six points and the set was still at a draw 19-19. The rest of the first belonged to the Mustangs as they galloped to a 6-1 run aided by two kills from Gardner and an ace by Shorts to take the frame 25-20.
In the second, Marymount got off to a strong start with a kill from Eric Wiles opening up an 8-3 advantage. The home side snagged two of the next three with a combined block by Shorts and freshman Nate Reynolds pulling the score back to 9-5. Two aces from Wiechecki and a kill from Wiles ended a 3-0 streak and the deficit was out to six at 12-6. Stevenson rallied back embarking on an 8-2 run to know the set at 14-14, during that time the only offensive Mustangs points came on kills delivered by Gardner and Smiley. The Saints countered using a 5-2 push to recapture the lead 19-16. A kill from Shorts and a Reynolds ace deadlocked the score again at 20-20. With the scoreboard showing 23-23, the guests got a kill from Wiechecki and an ace from Safley to capture the second 25-23.
Stevenson took four of the first five points in the third all courtesy of Saints attacking errors for an early 4-1 edge. Kills by Safley and Wiechecki cut the margin down to 4-3, but the Mustangs used a 5-2 run to take a 9-5 lead. Again it was the visitors hurting themselves as three more errors extended the advantage to 12-7. Marymount got the deficit to three at 15-12, however they could not get closer as kills from Smiley, Shorts, and Reynolds helped a 5-1 home push to make it 20-13. With the score 20-15, the sloppiness in the set for the Saints continued as the Mustangs took four of their final five points on away errors to grab a 25-16 set victory.
The fourth was very nip-and-tuck at the with neither side holding bigger than a two-point edge all the way to 10-10. Kills from Ben Steranka and Wiechecki finished off a 4-1 run that was only stopped by a kill from Gardner which took the score to 14-11. A kill by Reynolds and an error on the attack by Wiechecki brought them to within one 14-13. With the Mustangs trailing 18-14 the momentum shifted in a big way as a kill from shorts along with blocks from Melbardis, Klunk, and Gardner capped off a 5-0 push springing the home team in front 19-18. A kill from Shahan immediately knotted the score 19-19. Unfortunately, for the Saints, the hostile Stevenson crowd inside the gym made sure the match would not go five as kills from Gardner, Smiley, and Shorts capped off a 6-1 galop for the Mustangs and sent the fans home happy with a 25-20 set win.
The Mustangs as a team hit .228 on 43 kills, while third-ranked Marymount hit .154 and totaled 58 kills. Stevenson held a huge edge in the blocking department posted 22 assisted and five solos, to the Saints four assisted and one solo. The home side had a slim advantage in the service game with seven aces to five.
The Mustangs will be back in action on the on Saturday, March 10 when they travel to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a tri-match with 14th-ranked MIT and 12th-ranked Vassar in non-conference play. First serve against the Brewers is slated for 5pm, while the match with the host Engineers is scheduled for 7pm.
