UNION, N.J. (2/6/15) – Senior outside hitter Bez Arslani registered 22 kills as the No. 6 Kean University men's volleyball team topped No. 1 Juniata College for the fifth-year program's biggest win in its history. Both teams came into the match undefeated; the Eagles are now 7-1 and Kean is 7-0.

Deadlocked through the first four sets, Juniata fell behind 2-0 in the fifth but tied the score at 4-4 following consecutive Kean attack errors. Another Cougar error put the Eagles in front; Juniata led 9-6 after a combo block by Chad Albert and Matt Elias. Arslani (pictured left) would get Kean within a point twice at 12-11 and 13-12, but a service error put the Cougars down to their final point. An error by Juniata opened the door a crack and a kill by setter Ron Dunn tied the match at 14-14. The Eagles got a kill, but then committed three-straight errors to give away the match as the Harwood Arena crowd got louder with each point and rose to a crescendo after the victory was secured.

Back at the beginning of the night, there were three ties through the first 18 points of the match, Juniata took a 10-9 lead as Joe Bortak collected a kill. However, the Cougars responded with seven of the next eight points. Arslani put the Cougars up with two straight kills and three consecutive errors by the Eagles made the score 15-11 before a block by Jacob Kauffman and Kyle Farley gave Kean at five-point advantage.

The Kean lead would widen to 21-14 on a kill by Tommy Rosario, but Juniata closed to 23-19. Arslani added the last of his six first-set kills for a 24-19 lead and the Cougars, who hit .429 in the opening set, grabbed the 1-0 lead on a Juniata service error.

Juniata would even the match in the second set, although it needed to rally from four points down.

The back-and-forth see-saw continued in the third until Arslani ignited a four-point run with two kills and a solo block for a 20-16 Kean advantage. Juniata answered, knotting the score at 21-21 on an ace and again at 23-23 following a Kean miscue. An attack error gave the Cougars set point, but Albert kept the set going with a kill. Kauffman then put Kean in position to take the set with a kill, and the Cougars capitalized this time; Rosario and Arslani combined on a block to punctuate the 27-25 victory and the 2-1 lead.

Juniata came out swinging in the fourth: the Eagles hit .700, committing just one error in 20 attempts to set up the rubber set. Juniata led 9-2 and never looked back to set up the decisive fifth.

Arslani swung to the tune of a .311 hitting percentage in the match and personally accounted for 27 of Kean's points. Dunn (pictured right) had 44 assists for Kean to quarterback the team to victory.

Other Kean leaders included Farley who had nine kills and Kauffman and Jedziniak, who both had seven. Jedziniak and Arslani were also factors on the defensive side with a combined 17 blocks to pace the team.

Day One of the Clash at Kean

#6 Kean University 3, #1 Juniata College 2

Stevenson University 3, #9 Rivier University 0

#2 Stevens Institute of Technology 3, Lasell College 0

Day Two of the Clash at Kean

11 a.m.

Rivier University vs. Marymount University

Juniata College vs. Lasell College

1 p.m.

Kean University vs. Marymount University

Stevens Institute of Technology vs. Rivier University

3 p.m.

Stevens Institute of Technology vs. Juniata College

Springfield College vs. Stevenson University

5 p.m.

Springfield College vs. Kean University

Stevenson University vs. Lasell College