United Volleyball Conference MIT Athletic Communications

No. 10 MIT Rallies to Earn Five Set Win Over No. 4 Stevens to Advance to NCAA Quarterfinals

HOBOKEN, NJ – The No. 10 MIT men's volleyball team earned a thrilling five set win over No. 4 Stevens at Canavan Arena in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Engineers dropped the second and third sets but rallied to win the next two to advance to tomorrow's quarterfinal against No. 5 California Lutheran at 6:30 p.m.

THE BASICS: 

  • Scores: MIT 3, Stevens 2 (25-23, 21-25, 19-25, 25-21, 15-12) 
  • Records: No. 10 MIT (24-7 Overall); No. 4 Stevens (25-6 Overall)  

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

  • Set 1: MIT scored the first four points of the opening set, but Stevens eventually used a 5-0 run to take a 14-12 lead. The Ducks continued to lead until three-straight points from MIT, capped by a kill from Nate Toth tied the match at 17. A block from Esteban Schmitt, and Ryan Schmid put the Ducks up one at 22-21, but the Engineers rattled off three straight with a Toth ace giving them set point and a kill from Henry Garewal sealed the 25-23 win.  
  • Set 2: Colin Zimmerman cut the hosts' lead to 12-11 and Garewal later tied the set at 15 with a kill. With the match tied at 16, Stevens scored six of the next seven points and went on to take the set by a 25-21 score.  
  • Set 3: Stevens jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but the Engineers used three straight kills from Toth and a block from Maddox Brandenburg to pull even at seven. The Ducks regained the lead with a kill from Schmitt giving them a 19-15 advantage. A Garewal kill cut the Ducks lead to two at 19-17, but that is as close as MIT came as Stevens took set three, 25-19.  
  • Set 4: MIT took a 6-3 lead, but Stevens quickly pulled even on Schmid ace. MIT quickly built an 11-8 advantage off a kill from Alexander Garrett and held onto the lead for the remainder of the set as a Matthew Louis kill sent the teams into a decisive fifth set as it gave MIT the 25-21 win. 
  • Set 5: Toth tied the match at eight, but Stevens took advantage of a service error and got a kill from Tyler Hoke to take a one-point lead. Garewal tied the match at nine and kick-started a 6-3 run for MIT which was capped by a Toth kill for the match-clinching point.  

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: 

  • Toth led all players with a career-high 25 kills. Garewal finished with 14 while Baker had 10. Garewal also led the way with 12 digs. 
  • Zimmerman had a match-high 56 assists. 
  • Brandenburg and Louis had five blocks each. 
  • Stiemer led Stevens with 16 kills. 

UP NEXT: 

  • The Engineers will play No. 5 Cal Lutheran tomorrow, April 18 at 6:30 PM in the Quarterfinals.