Union, N.J. (3/28/13) – The Kean University men's volleyball team beat their second straight top 15 opponent using 24.5 blocks to edge #11 New York University in five sets on Thursday evening.
Rookie Tommy Rosario collected 13 total blocks (three solo, 10 assisted) while playing all five sets in the win. Kean improves to 19-7 this season while NYU falls to 11-12 with the loss.
Both teams battled from the get-go as neither team could push the lead out beyond four points in the first set. The Cougars and Violets see-sawed from 18-all, tying seven more times before NYU was able to net two points, breaking the 24-24 tie. The Violets used kills from rookie Keith Waddell and junior Nick Capriccio to go up 1-0.
The second set belonged to the Cougars, as Kean only fell behind once in the stanza. Kean pushed their lead to as many as eight as sophomore Ed Jedziniak registered a kill to make it 18-10. Kean would cruise to a 25-16 set win to knot the match at one-all.
Tied at 20-all in the third set, the Violets used two Cougar attack errors to take a 22-20 lead. The Cougars battled back and used a kill from senior Steve Vahalla and a Violet attack error sandwiched around an NYU kill from freshman Colin LaPorte to inch closer at 23-22. Kean tied things at 23-all after being awarded a point on an NYU yellow card. The Cougars closed out the set with two straight assisted blocks from sophomores Kyle Farley and Alex Barnhard to take a 2-1 lead.
NYU cruised in the fourth set, tallying 11 kills on 24 swings, posting a 25-14 set win.
In the deciding set, Kean fell behind early, but battled back each time to tie things up. The Cougars took their first lead of the set with sophomore John Cunningham serving. Tied at nine-all, Cunningham (pictured left) served four straight points as Vahalla registered his 18th and 19th kills of the night while assisting on Barnhard's fifth. The Cougars closed out the match with another block, this time from Rosario and Barnhard to seal the 15-10 set win.
Vahalla finished with a double-double 19 kills and 10 digs while Jedziniak added 10 kills on 17 swings with seven blocks. Farley ended the night with 10 total blocks in addition to six kills and Barnhard and Ron Dunn combined from 45 assists.
The Cougars square off with a key Skyline match against Ramapo College on Tuesday in Mahwah, beginning at 7 p.m.
