The Misericordia University men's volleyball team lost a tough 3-0 decision at Stevens in a battle of nationally-ranked teams, Friday.

The #16 Cougars fell 27-25, 25-12, 27-25 to the third-ranked Ducks.

Jared Piontkowski led the Cougars with 16 kills while Anthony DePalma had 11 kills and three blocks.

Benjamin Clendening had five blocks and Gannon DeFrain had 34 assists and three blocks.

Jackson Fehnel had 11 digs and Matt Albrecht had three aces.

DePalma had a kill and Albrecht added an ace to key a 5-0 run to give MU a 12-9 lead in the opening set.

After Stevens rallied to take a 22-20 lead, the Cougars answered with four of the next five points.

DePalma and Piontkowski both had kills to put MU back in front, 24-23.

Another Piontkowski kill gave the Cougars a 25-24 lead, but the Ducks scored three straight points to win.

Stevens scored eight straight points to take a 20-9 lead in the second set.

Down 17-12 in the third set, the Cougars scored seven straight points to take the lead.

Albrecht had two aces as part of the run to give MU a 19-17 lead.

Piontkowski and Joe Kozak both had kills to avoid match-point, but the Ducks closed the match with back-to-back kills.