UNION, N.J. (4/9/15) – The No. 5 Kean University men's volleyball team weathered a feisty College of Mount Saint Vincent squad to win its Skyline Conference semifinal match in a 3-0 sweep on Thursday. The regular-season champion Cougars will host the Skyline Conference Finals on Saturday at 7 p.m. against No. 2 seed Ramapo College. Fourth-seeded Mount Saint Vincent ended its season on Thursday with a 16-10 record.
The Cougars won the first set easily 25-11 on the strength of Jacob Kauffman's serving. The freshman had three aces in the first set and Kean outhit the Dolphins .235 to -.174.
But despite the early success, Kean found itself trailing 24-21 in the second set; triple set point.
First, the Cougars turned to Kauffman, who put one down. Then an in-system Shady Taylor kill got Kean within one at 23-24. Following a Mt. St. Vincent timeout, Ron Dunn went over on two (after being set up by perfect pass by Ed Jedziniak) and tied the game at 24.
The hosts continued to press. Another big kill by Taylor in the middle put the Cougars ahead. Finally, on Kean's first set point, Kauffman had a fantastic diving dig that allowed Dunn (pictured left) to go over on two again and give the Cougars a huge come-from-behind victory.
Marc Barreda was a big reason why CMSV was able to make the second set so close. He had five kills on seven swings with no errors for the Dolphins. He finished with 10 kills on the night.
Kean was able to win again comfortably in the third set, 25-16. Kauffman led the team with nine kills and a total of 15 points via four blocks and four aces in the match. Taylor finished with a match-high six blocks and three big kills.
Kyle Farley hit .375, while Steve Schrank played setter in the third and contributed five assists and two digs while hitting 1.000. John Cunningham had seven digs to lead the team there. All 11 Cougars who saw action on Thursday night had at least one dig.
Dunn finished with 23 assists and four kills from the setter's position.
Kean will be going for its fourth-straight Skyline Conference crown and will look to clinch a bid to the NCAA Championship for the fourth-consecutive year on Saturday. The 2015 Cougars are the first Kean men's volleyball team to reach the 30-victory plateau.
