UNION, N.J. (2/7/15) – The No. 6 Kean University men's volleyball team swept No. 3 Springfield College and Marymount University to remain undefeated, sweep the "Clash at Kean" and stake its claim as one of the top teams in the nation. 24 hours earlier the Cougars knocked off No. 1 Juniata College to kick off the home tournament. Freshman Jacob Kauffman was the man of the match against No. 3 Springfield, as the rookie hit .909 with 10 kills on 11 swings and four aces.
Kean leapt out to an 11-7 lead in that match, forcing Springfield to call timeout; the Cougars were outhitting Springfield .364 to .091 at that point. Kean then scored three of the next five to widen its lead and force another call for time by Springfield.
At 17-13, Kyle Farley and Ron Dunn came up with huge digs to steal a point from the Pride. The Cougars did a fantastic job of keeping and extending the lead in the first set, running away with the 25-19 victory. Kean hit .400 in the opener and had the only three blocks in the match; two block assists each by Tommy Rosario and Bez Arslani.
One again, Kean got a big lead to start and earned five of the first seven points of the second. The Cougars continued to push, and at 7-3 the Pride asked for time again.
Kean went to Arslani (pictured left) all over the court and the All-American led Kean with six kills at that juncture. A short time later, Kauffman pounded an overpass to make the score 10-5 and Springfield called its second timeout and fourth of the match. Ed Jedziniak, unfazed, threw out an ace on the next serve.
Some time later after a hard-to-handle Kauffman serve, it was Arslani's turn to feed on an overpass to make the count 14-6.
Arslani then served two-straight aces in the set to put it out of reach. It is hard to overstate how dominant Kean was over the first two sets; the Cougars hit .667 and had six aces in the second set, while the Pride had no blocks and Kean sideout-ed on 92 percent of possible points.
In the third, Springfield began to assert itself and got out ahead 8-5. The Pride stayed ahead until the Cougars caught them at 11 on a great kill by Arslani.
SC went ahead again until Farley threw up a solo block to get Kean its first lead at 14-13. The Cougars got the important two-point lead after a great rally at 16-14.
Later on, a Springfield error put Kean up by three at 18-15 and made the Pride burn its final timeout. The lead grew to fur when Dunn won a joust over a middle blocker to make the score 20-16.
But No. 3 Springfield finally made a run, and had set point at 24-23. Kean went to Arslani, who tied the match at 24 at set up a dueling deuce situation. The teams circled each other, tying at 24, 25, 26, 27 and 28. The home crowd grew tense as the Pride fought off four match points.
Finally, a Springfield error opened match point number five and with Kauffman serving, Dunn set up Arslani for the final kill of the day to deliver the second huge win for Kean is as many days. The Pride is the three-time defending NCAA Champions.
Dunn had 35 assists in the match and he, Kauffman and Jedziniak all tied for the team lead with four digs. But the story of the match was aces and blocks. The Cougars had seven team blocks – Rosario (pictured right) was in on five of them – and eight aces. Springfield was able to hinder just one Cougar attack and did not serve a single ace.
In the first match of the day, Kean had little trouble with Marymount in the opening set and won 25-15.
In the second, the Cougars had to work a little harder for the victory before ultimately pulling out the 25-23 triumph. Arslani poured in eight kills in that frame alone to ensure the Cougars would not drop that set.
The Cougars got an even tighter win in the third at 26-24 to take the match in a deceptively close three-set sweep. Kean was consistent throughout, hitting .222, .243 and .233 in the three sets. Arslani finished that match with 15.5 points and Farley added 7.5.
Kean – which will be expecting to assume its highest-ranking ever when the new poll is released on Tuesday - will head to New York City for a non-conference matchup with Baruch College at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Day One of the Clash at Kean
#6 Kean University 3, #1 Juniata College 2
#9 Stevenson University 3, Rivier University 0
#2 Stevens Institute of Technology 3, Lasell College 0
Day Two of the Clash at Kean
#9 Rivier University 3, Marymount University 0
#1 Juniata College 3, Lasell College 0
#6 Kean University 3, Marymount University 0
#2 Stevens Institute of Technology 3, #9 Rivier University 0
#2 Stevens Institute of Technology 3, #1 Juniata College 0
#3 Springfield College 3, Stevenson University 0
#6 Kean University 3, #3 Springfield College 0
Lasell College 3, Stevenson University 2
