UNION, N.J. (2/8/20) – Jared Ray totaled 32 kills over two matches as the Kean University men's volleyball team split a tri-match with Lehman College and Messiah College on Saturday.
Kean 3, Lehman 0
Ray and
Jonathan Meyer combined for 13 kills as the Cougars (3-6) posted a .414 hitting percentage in the sweep of the Lightning (2-5). Ray finished with seven kills and recorded a .667 hitting percentage, while Meyer tallied six kills with a .400 hitting percentage.
Kean hit north of .300 for the entire match, while limiting Lehman to a -.038 hitting percentage.
Duncan Beilke and
Kevin Molina each tallied four kills, while
Zach Noll,
Stephen Reynolds and
David Jones all posted three kills apiece. Noll also recorded double-digit assists (13) along with
Zach Gerken (10) and
Luke Frankenfield (12).
Andrew Lukasiuk collected six digs in the victory.
Messiah 3, Kean 2
Ray and
Seth Russell combined for 42 kills as the Cougars (3-7) came up a bit short in a five set thriller with the Falcons (6-2). Ray finished with a career-high 25 kills, while Russell tallied a career-high 17 kills as Kean recorded a .298 hitting percentage.
After falling behind 2-0, Kean rallied to force the deciding set behind the play of their outside hitters. Kean hit .591 in a 25-20 set three victory that saw Russell and
Ray combine for 13 kills. Ray added another seven kills in the fourth set victory that saw 12 ties and three lead changes.
The momentum swung back and forth between both sides during the deciding set as the freshman notched another six kills towards his career high performance.
Messiah rallied from a 4-1 deficit to jump ahead 9-7 on a 6-1 run. Kean eventually evened the contest at 10-10, but the Falcons notched three straight points for a 13-10 lead that kept Messiah in the driver's seat for the final few points.
Russell and Ray both added eight digs, while Gerken handed out 30 assists. Meyer finished with nine digs and three kills, while Noll finished with 12 assists.
Head Coach
Charlie Ginex and the Cougars will return to action on Tuesday, February 11
th, hosting the nationally-ranked Knights of Arcadia University at 7:30 p.m.