Story Courtesy of Stevens Athletics

HOBOKEN, N.J. – The Stevens Institute of Technology women's volleyball team, No. 1 in the MAC Freedom Tournament, survived a second-set scare during a sweep of No. 4 Arcadia Thursday night in the MAC Freedom Championship Semifinals.
 
Stevens (26-3) won 25-15, 28-26, 25-14 over the Knights (22-6) to advance to a seventh straight Championship Final.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Ducks came out firing on (almost) all cylinders, hitting a blistering .484 in the opening set, notching 16 kills with just a single error on 31 swings. Alyssa O'Neal, Eva Tarolli, and Julianne Danis each had two early as the Ducks built a 15-8 lead. Down the stretch, the Knights drew no closer than six, with O'Neal and Kileen McNeill combining for six of the final 10 Stevens points of the set with three kills apiece.
 
The second set was much more back and forth, with seven lead changes transpiring before the 15-15 mark. O'Neal had four kills early, with Tarolli and Danis adding two each. Arcadia reeled off seven of the next nine, opening a 22-17 advantage, but Stevens fought off three set points at 24-21, extending the frame before finally closing out, 28-26.
 
The third set started with the Ducks down 6-3, but kills from Boland (two), Taroli, Danis, and a Cadence Sturt service ace flipped the score to 8-6 in favor of the Ducks. From there, the Ducks did not concede the lead, with nine of their final 17 points coming via kills from Tarolli (four), Danis (three), O'Neal (two), plus service aces from Danis and Molly Harris. The Ducks nearly matched their first set prowess, hitting .448 (17 kills, four errors, 29 swings)

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Danis posted a 10-kill, 13-dig double-double, the 13 digs a match high
• Tarolli had 10 kills and hit .563, O'Neal had 16 kills and hit .412
• Brucculeri had 42 assists, her sixth match this season with at least 40
• Sturt had four service aces, her sixth time notching at least four this season

UP NEXT
The Ducks will face No. 3 Misericordia in the MAC Freedom Tournament Final on Saturday, November 14, at 1:00 PM. The Cougars won the fourth and fifth sets against No. 2 DeSales on Thursday to set up a rematch of both the 2024 and 2025 conference championship finals, both won by the Ducks in five.

#AllRise