OWINGS MILLS, Md. - Led by 23 kills by senior Logan Smiley, No. 2 seed Stevenson advanced to the championship match of the 2021 Middle Atlantic Conference Men's Volleyball Championship with a 3-1 win over third-seeded Stevens Wednesday night at Owings Mills Gymnasium.  Set scores were 27-25, 25-17, 22-25, 25-16.

• In a set that saw nine ties, Stevens (10-4) scored three straight points late to take a 24-21 lead.
• Stevenson (13-3) staved off set point and rattled off four straight points of its own to take a 25-24 lead on a block by Tanner Stauffer and Elliot De La Torre.
• A Jack Fyda kill for the Ducks tied the set 25-25 as the guests fought of set point.
• A Stauffer kill, followed by a kill by Grant Nelson, completed the Mustang comeback and gave the hosts a 1-0 lead.
• Stevenson hit .410 in the first set while the Ducks hit .317.

• Stevenson used a 5-1 run midway through the second to take a 13-9 lead on a Nelson kill.
• After Stevens cut the lead to 13-12, the Mustangs scored five straight points to go up 18-12 on an Aleks Melbardis kill.
• The Mustangs led by at least five points the rest of the set and a kill by Smiley put the hosts up 2-0.

• A 5-1 Mustang run put Stevenson up 17-12 following a kill by Melbardis.
• Stevens flipped control with a 10-2 run to take a 22-19 lead.  The run was capped by a kill by Percy Bickford.
• The Mustangs cut the lead to two twice, the last time at 24-22, but the Ducks stayed alive by taking the 25-22 victory.

• A kill by Smiley that put Stevenson on top 14-10 capped a 5-1 Mustang run.
• The Ducks cut the lead to two, 17-15, following an attack error by the hosts.
• Stevenson scored the next four points, with Stauffer recording a pair of kills in the spurt, to go up 21-15.
• The Mustangs scored the final four points of the match, with a Nelson kill closing things out.

• Stevenson hit .370 for the match, while the Ducks hit .165.
• The win by the Mustangs snapped Stevens' nine-match win streak.
• Smiley hit .409 with just five errors on 44 swings.  He added 10 digs.
• Smiley recorded his 1,000th career kill with his first kill of the second set.
• Melbardis racked up 15 kills to go along with eight digs.
• Stauffer notched 11 kills on .435 hitting and 11 digs, with Aidan O'Brien hitting .643 and adding 10 kills.
• De La Torre recorded 10 total blocks (nine assists) and posted six kills.
• Nelson registered 58 assists, six digs, four blocks and four kills.
• Mason Scott posted a team-best 14 digs.
• Stevenson will have appeared in all three MAC men's volleyball title matches.  The Mustangs won the inaugural title in 2018 before falling in 2019's final.
• The Mustangs improved to 7-1 at home this season.
• The win over the Ducks was the first in program history.  Stevenson had been 0-9 against Stevens prior to Wednesday night.

• Stevenson will travel to top-seeded Messiah, a 3-1 winner over Alvernia in Wednesday's other semifinal, on Saturday at 7 pm for the MAC championship and the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship.
• The Mustangs and Falcons split their two meetings this season, with each winning on their home floor.