HOBOKEN, N.J. (4/24/15) – The No. 5 Kean University men's volleyball program ended its 2015 season in the Quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship in a 3-1 matchup against four-seed SUNY New Paltz on Friday. The Cougars rallied from a 25-16 first-set loss to take the second 25-18, but New Paltz took the last two frames to advance.
The Hawks played their best to start, while Kean put up its worst hitting percentage set in the opener. The Cougars hit exactly .000 while the Hawks swung at .391 and the match looked like it might be over early.
But Kean showed grit and mental toughness to come back and win the second set 25-18. The Cougars started trailing in that set too, 3-1. But they climbed back into it via short three- and two-point bursts, aided by a sideout percentage of 83 percent in the frame.
The Cougars had a balanced second-set attack: Jacob Kauffman, Bez Arslani and Ed Jedziniak all had two kills, and Tommy Rosario and Kyle Farley added one each. That was all for the kill totals, but Kean made just one error in its very efficient set victory. Kean also had four blocks in the second set compared to the Hawks' two blocks over the entire match.
New Paltz made defensive adjustments in the third and fourth sets to bring the Kean attack back to Earth. After hitting a match-low .227 in the second, the Hawks ratcheted back up to .389 and .333 in the third and fourth set, respectively, to pull ahead. Kean stayed within one point until 17-15 in the third, but four-point New Paltz run with John Lutjen serving clinched that set for the Hawks.
Anthony Bonilla played well for New Paltz and led all players with 13 kills while hitting .478. Christian Smith added a dozen kills and Chris Huntsman had 10.
Rosario accounted for four Kean blocks, including three big solo stops. Farley was also in on four blocks for Kean. He, Jedziniak and setter Ron Dunn all had one solo block to their credit.
Dunn had 28 assists on the night and added an ace. Kauffman and Arslani both had two aces apiece to lead the team there, while senior libero John Cunningham set the pace with seven digs.
Farley (pictured left) hit .538 in the match with seven kills, and Arslani led the team with 10 kills in the match. Rosario also had seven kills for Kean.
Click here to see a postgame interview with Dunn, Jedziniak and Head Coach Charlie Ginex.
The Cougars end the season with 31 wins, smashing the school-record of 26 victories set in the previous two seasons. They will look to win their fifth-straight Skyline Conference Championship in 2016.
