UNION, N.J. (2/17/11) – Freshman Christian Portera and sophomore Steve Vahalla combined for 45 kills and 20 digs to rally the Kean University men's volleyball team to a 3-2 win over New Jersey City University in North East Collegiate Volleyball Association – Metro action on Thursday evening.

After dropping the first two sets, the Cougars (5-9, 2-3 NECVA-Metro) hit a combined .314 in the final three sets for the come-from-behind victory in the first five-set match in program history (16-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-21, 15-9). 

Portera (pictured left) had a double-double with a career-high 23 kills and 11 digs for Kean, while junior Kenny Lisk led the Gothic Knights (6-6, 1-6 NECVA-Metro) with 17 kills.

NJCU controlled the first set, as they had 13 kills and just three errors in 21 attack attempts (.476 hitting percentage) to open the match.  In a balanced second set, neither team led by more than two points throughout the entire game before the Gothic Knights scored the final two points to take a 2-0 lead.

Each team led during the third set, with Kean taking their largest lead at 10-6.  The Gothic Knights went ahead 21-20 late in the set, before the Cougars kept the match alive with five of the final six points.

The two teams again traded the lead back and forth in the early part of the fourth set, before the Cougars took the lead for good at 10-9 on a kill by rookie Eric Cooney and extended the lead to 15-11 before maintaining at least a two-point advantage for the remainder of the set.

Kean scored the first three points in the decisive fifth set, including a pair of points on kills by Portera, before junior Sam Haimann closed out the win with a service ace.

Haimann (pictured right) dished out a career-high 55 assists in the victory and added five kills, four digs and two blocks for the Cougars.  Vahalla posted a .391 hitting percentage, making 22 kills against just four errors in 46 total attacks.  Rookie libero Tom Kemmerle added 10 digs.

For NJCU, freshman Rich Boyle added 16 kills and eight digs, while sophomore Michal Kucza posted 10 kills and nine digs.  Senior setter Jorge Rodriguez dished out 47 assists for the Gothic Knights.

Kean returns to NECVA-Metro action on Monday, February 21, when the Cougars host Stevenson University at 1 p.m.