JERSEY CITY, N.J. (NJCUGothicKnights.com) |  No. 5 ranked Kean University hit .380 and had a 48-26 margin in kills as the Cougars defeated the New Jersey City University men's volleyball team in the regular season Skyline Conference finale for both schools on April 7, 3-0 (25-14, 25-15, 25-20) at the John J. Moore Athletics and Fitness Center.

Senior Night Photo Gallery
 
NJCU finishes the regular season at 17-14 overall and 9-5 in the Skyline, dropping its final five contests. Kean, ranked fifth by the American Volleyball Coaches Association and as high as first nationally earlier this season, caps an undefeated conference record at 29-4 and 14-0. The Cougars had exactly 16 kills in each set.
 
Prior to the match, NJCU honored its two four-year seniors—outside hitter Bill Le (Jersey City, NJ/Snyder) and defensive specialist/libero graduate student A.J. Flores (Jersey City, NJ/County Prep).
 
NJCU fell despite a solid effort by freshman setter/right side John Leon (Guatemala City, Guatemala/Colegio Interamericano de Guatemala) who hit .385 with eight kills (8-3-13), 11 assists and six digs. Junior libero Nick Poh (Richmond, VA/Varina) defended 13 digs.
 
Junior opposite Kendall Tribbett (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) hit .308 in defeat with five kills (5-1-13) and sophomore middle hitter Sheldon Coure (Redondo Beach, CA/Redondo Union) put away five kills (.286, 5-1-14) and two blocks.
 
The most dangerous Cougar was freshman Jacob Kauffman (York, Pa.) who landed 10 kills and hit .44 (10-2-18) and was lethal on serve, landing four aces while adding six digs. Cougar senior middle Kyle Farley (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West) hit .500 with 10 kills and no errors (20 attempts). Senior setter Ron Dunn (Collingswood, NJ/Collingswood) was efficient with 35 assists in 71 attempts (.493), adding three kills in five swings (.600).
 Also for Kean, junior middle Tommy Rosario (Belleville, NJ/Belleville) hit .538 with seven kills (7-0-13) and rookie middle Shady Taylor (Jersey City, NJ/St. Peter's Prep) hit .417 with six kills (6-1-12) and three blocks. Former Gothic Knight Bez Arslani (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Valley) finished with eight kills (.182).
 
Kean hit .481 in game one (16-3-27) and tied 5-5, used an 8-0 run behind the ace serving of Kauffman and three kills by Arslani to grab a 13-5 lead before winning the game by 11 points.  Kean scored the first five points of game two and claimed a 10-1 advantage, hitting .316 in the set.
 
The third set was the most competitive with nine ties and four lead changes. NJCU led 14-12 before Kean took the lead with five straight points, including three kills in a row by Arslani, senior opposite Ed Jedziniak (Hillsborough, NJ/Hillsborough) and Farley for a 17-14 edge. Kean prevailed by five to sweep the match.
 

OF NOTE:

• Series: Kean leads, 11-0.
• NJCU is guaranteed to finish the season with a winning record. The 9-5 Skyline record is its best since also going 9-5 in its first year in the league in 2012.
• Sheldon Coure is five kills shy of 500 (495, 61 matches)

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
NJCU will make its fourth consecutive appearance in the Skyline Conference Tournament on Thursday, April 9 when the third-seeded Gothic Knights travel to Mahwah, NJ to face No. 2 seeded Ramapo College (18-16, 12-2 Skyline) at 7 p.m. The Roadrunners won both meetings this season, 3-0, although the last match on March 21 was tight (25-21, 27-25, 25-22). It will be the 62nd meeting. The Roadrunners lead the all-time series, 50-11 and have won the last 21 meetings since 2006. The winner between NJCU and Ramapo meets the winner of No. 1 seeded Kean and fourth-seeded Mount Saint Vincent in the conference championship match on April 11.