The Men's Club Volleyball teams traveled to Rutgers on Saturday, Oct. 16^th for multiple scrimmages against Rutgers University and Rowan University. The A team and the B team both played very well in spite of some notable absences due to injuries and illness. At the end of the day, both teams had very strong showings for the Ducks season opener.  There were 2 pools of competition – one for the top teams and one for secondary teams that represented each school. Stevens A and Stevens B both competed against 3 other teams for a total of 6 sets to 25 each.
            To start, the B team played 2 sets of 25 points against the Rutgers graduate level club team. Unfortunately, the Ducks lost both sets 21 to 25, but the games were very competitive. Some key players for the B team include freshman outside hitter Harris Pyo and junior opposite hitter Miles Bird, who both racked up multiple kills against Rutgers. Two other freshman - setter Ryan Martinez and libero Juan Valencia – both played their skill positions very well. Ryan made some very good sets and was great at communicating while Juan had powerful serves and made impressive digs. The other players for the B team were freshman Jack Gibson at middle blocker, sophomore Matthew Vaughan at middle blocker, and grad student Louis Cantor as outside hitter. All 3 of these players had very good blocks and prevented a number of scores on defense.
            The Stevens B team next played the Rowan B team, which went similarly to their game against the Rutgers graduate level team. Stevens B unfortunately lost both sets 19-25 and 20-25, mainly due to errors in passing the opponent's serve. Despite some great blocking from Jack, Matt, and Miles, the Ducks were not able to pass the ball well enough to defeat the Rowan in these 2 sets. Next, the Stevens B team finished their day playing two sets against Rutgers C team, which was as competitive as their previous sets, resulting in unfortunate loss of 21-25 and 20-25. Like their sets against Rowan, it was the poor serve receive that prevented a victorious Stevens B team.
            Despite their winless performance, the Stevens B team ultimately had a good performance by being competitive against good schools while still missing many players. It was the first tournament experience for many players and they will all continue to improve as the season continues.
            The Stevens A-team started off the day playing against Rutgers A. This was Stevens' first game of the season, and the ducks struggled to counter the quick Rutgers offence in the first set. Simple mistakes and stiff performances that are both chalked up to tournament nerves led to Stevens losing the first set against Rutgers A 18-25. But the team came out of the huddle fired up for the second set. Stevens quickly found their footing with multiple great digs from libero Kendall Niles Peretz and powerful, controlled swings from outside hitter Alexei Nikiforov. On the final point, the pass was close to the net, which Zack Salisbury smashed into the left corner of the court. The second set against Rutgers A was won by Stevens 25-16. Great spikes from opposite hitter Harry de Haas and middle blocker Max Metzner shut down Rutgers throughout the set.
            The second match of the day for Stevens A was against Rowan and fully warmed up from the first match, Stevens was ready to play. In a tense game, outside hitter Tyler Brunquell showed his prowess in the front row with multiple kills. The set was very close the entire time and was ended by Kendall's well-placed topspin serve hitting the left line and aceing the final point of the first set. Stevens won the first set against Rowan 25-23. The second set started with a massive block by middle blocker Cary Qi which made the Rowan players think harder about hitting cross-court for the rest of the game. This set was another close game that unfortunately ended by a Stevens missed serve, giving the set to Rowan 23-25.
            Eager to prove themselves after the last set they lost, Stevens rallied around the new match against Rutgers B. Max Metzner proved himself with some quick kills that were too fast for the opponent's block. By letting the other team make their own mistakes, the game was won by Stevens 25-14 without many issues. The second set, Kendall found his groove and managed to serve 9 times in a row while the Rutgers B team struggled to manage his topspin serve. Like the first set, Stevens won in flying colors 25-17 to finish off a successful day at the tournament.
            The Stevens Mens Club Volleyball team travels to The College of New Jersey next weekend where they hope to have another competitive showing.