No. 2 Stevens Deals Men's Volleyball First Loss

UNION, N.J. – The Elms College men's volleyball suffered its first loss of the 2018 season on Friday, falling 3-0 to No. 2 Stevens to open the Clash at Kean.

Jeremy Torres, the reigning AVCA DIII Player of the Week, led the Blazers with 11 kills on a .258 hitting percentage. John Dunphy had 11 assists and Jovanny Torres added 10 for Elms (4-1).

Elms was within two points of Stevens (4-2) early in the first set, trailing 7-5 before Stevens collected seven of the next eight points to pull ahead 14-6. The Blazers made a push late in the set, but Stevens escaped with a 25-21 win. The Ducks went on the clinch the match with 25-19 and 25-18 wins in sets two and three, respectively.

Gabe Shankweiler led the Ducks with 15 kills and eight digs while hitting .478 for the match. David Lehman added 15 kills and a .370 hitting percentage for Stevens, which hit .430 as a team. Elms hit .172 for the match while Stevens owned a 36-19 advantage in digs.

Elms will wrap up the tournament on Saturday, facing Medaille and No. 7 Kean. The Blazers will return home next week for their first home match of the 2018 season when Sage visits Picknelly Arena on Jan. 31 at 7:00 p.m.