Story Courtesy of Stevens Athletics

Dallas, Pa. – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team avenged a regular season loss to Misericordia, claiming a sixth straight MAC Freedom Championship by knocking off the Cougars in a five-set classic Saturday afternoon.

Stevens (22-9) rallied from a set down twice, taking the match 23-25, 25-21, 20-25, 25-14, 15-13, handing Misericordia just its eighth home loss in 29 matches since the start of the 2024 season.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Stevens took a 9-4 lead in the first set, forcing a Misericordia timeout. The second-seeded Ducks got each of their first five points from Misericordia errors, with Sarah Bolduc adding a pair of kills and Eva Tarolli adding a kill of her own. Kills from Bolduc and Alyssa O'Neal pushed the lead to 11-5 before Misericordia took the next four points. The top-seeded Cougars made two more errors with an O'Neal kill pushing the Ducks' lead back to 14-9, but Misericordia rallied to within one point three separate times before tying the set at 17. Two Boland kills plus one each from O'Neal and Bolduc gave the Ducks a 21-19 lead, but Misericordia answered back yet again, eventually taking a 24-22 lead and closing out the frame on its second set point opportunity.

The second set started much like the first, Stevens opening a multiple point cushion early. Four Misericordia errors and two kills each from Lisboa & O'Neal staked the Ducks to an 8-4 advantage. The Ducks continued to benefit from Misericordia errors, as the Cougars committed four more, including three in a row, as Stevens opened a 15-8 lead. O'Neal, Boland, Lisboa, and Tarolli all had one kill apiece, keeping the Ducks in front. The Cougars eventually clawed their way back to 20-19, then 22-21, but two Cougars errors, kills by Lisboa & O'Neal, and a set-closing service ace from O'Neal knotted the match at one set each.

Misericordia seized control early in the third, taking a 12-7 lead and holding at least a five-point cushion until Stevens staved off four set points at 24-15, closing to 24-20 (forcing a Misericordia timeout) but the Cougars closed out the set out of the timeout – Bolduc led the Ducks attack with three kills in the frame.

The two sides traded points back and forth early in the fourth, with Stevens taking an 8-6 lead. The Ducks followed with four straight, eight of the next 11, and 13 of the next 18, opening the first double-digit advantage of the day for either side at 21-11. The teams traded points the rest of the set as Stevens pushed things to a winner-take-all fifth. Bolduc had six more kills in the fourth, Tarolli added four, and O'Neal added three.

Lisboa and O'Neal put away the first two points of the fifth with a Misericordia error making it 3-0, but the Cougars took eight of the next 10 points for an 8-6 lead. Stevens answered with four of the next five, taking the lead back, 10-9. Misericordia leveled things at 10, but Lisboa and Boland made it 12-10 with back-to-back kills, forcing a Misericordia timeout that stopped the run only temporarily as back -to-back Cougars attack errors gave the Ducks four championship points. Misericordia fought off the first three, but O'Neal fired one just over the block for the win.

Lisboa was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after hitting .385 (16 kills, one error, 39 swings) with 10 total blocks, including nine kills with no errors and seven total blocks Saturday.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• With the victory, Stevens becomes the first school in known MAC Freedom history to win a conference championship in men's soccer, women's soccer, field hockey, and women's volleyball in the same season. Each team also defeated Misericordia in the semifinal or final of all four conference tournaments
• Stevens has not lost a MAC Freedom Tournament match since joining the conference prior to the 2019-20 season
• Bolduc hit a whopping .625, finishing with 16 kills and a single error on 24 swings, while moving into the team lead in kills for the season (260)
• O'Neal had a 15-kill, 13-dig double-double, her seventh of the season
• Molly Harris had a 20-set, 10-dig double-double, her sixth of the season
• Alexa Brucceuleri had a team-high 27 assists

UP NEXT
The Ducks will play in the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time since 2014 and will know who they face after the selection show at 1:00 on Monday. Links for live stats and live video will be posted to stevensducks.com as they are made available.

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