ARLINGTON, Va. -  The Stevenson University men's volleyball team came out of the gate hot on Thursday night as the Mustangs blanked Marymount 3-0 in their season opener on the road
 
Set scores were 25-16, 25-18 and 25-20.
 
The Mustangs as a team hit .346 in their opener, with a .500 mark (15-3-24) in their first set. Ryan Thenell had 12 kills to lead the Mustangs as he hit .524 (12-1-21), with Anthony Pezzino getting ten kills. Tim Flanagan chipped in with nine on the night.
 
Doug Hines had 30 assists, with Jacob Sledz and Jackson Bones each getting two aces.
 
J.D. Sarmuksnis had ten digs for the Mustangs with Thenell getting nine. At the net, Flanagan had two solo blocks, while Adam Sawyers had six block assists. Thenell added in five block assists.
 
Marymount (0-2) picked to finish third in the CVC, got seven kills from Diego Pena.
 
In the first, Stevenson broke a 14-all stalemate as Flanagan and Pezzino had back-to-back kills followed by a Saints attack error which made the score 17-14. Leading 19-16, Stevenson scored six straight points to end the first set with a block by Sawyers and Flanagan ending the first set at 25-16.
 
In the second set, Stevenson led 4-1 and never trailed, building the lead as high as seven.
 
In the third and final set, Stevenson fell behind early but went on a 5-0 scoring run to go up 15-10 with Sawyers collecting a pair of kills during the run.
 
Stevenson heads on the road for a tri-match this weekend at fifth-ranked Juniata along with newcomer Grove City.