Men's Volleyball Splits Final Two Contests In Clash At Kean

UNION, N.J. – The Elms College men's volleyball team split a pair of matches to close out the Clash at Kean on Saturday afternoon, beating Medaille College 3-0 before falling to No. 7 Kean 3-1.

The Blazer defense led the way in the sweep of Medaille. Elms (5-2) held MC (0-3) to a .048 hitting percentage and picked up 40 digs and six total blocks en route to a 25-19, 25-22, 25-16 sweep. The defensive performance was enough to cover up a dozen service errors and a .156 hitting percentage for the Blazers.

Jeremy Torres finished with a team-high 11 kills and added seven digs in the match, while John Dunphy tallied 16 assists and Audrye Alejandro collected a team-best 12 digs. Jake Johnson needed just nine swings to pick up six kills, hitting .444 in the process for Elms.

Despite an intense battle, Elms was unable to knock off No. 7 Kean (5-1) to close out the tournament. The Blazers and Cougars exchanged 25-22 set victories through three sets, leaving Kean ahead 2-1 heading into the fourth set.

The back-and-forth fourth saw Elms pull ahead 9-6 before Kean used a 5-0 run to take an 11-9 lead. The set was then tied nine more times - including ties at 21, 22, 23 and 24 – before Kean squeaked out the final three points to seal a 26-24 win and 3-1 match victory. In all, there were 11 ties in the fourth set alone.

Martin Acevedo led all players with 17 kills in the match, hitting .237 and adding six digs. Torres tallied 10 more kills while John Dunphy finished with a match-high 22 assists for Elms. David Hernandez finished with nine blocks for the Blazers.

Dylan Flor picked up 11 kills while hitting .348 to lead Kean. Zach Gerken had 21 assists and Steve Schrank added nine digs.

Elms hit .114 against Kean while the Cougars hit .179 in the match. Kean had a 43-34 advantage in digs and 8-7 lead in total blocks.

The Blazers will return to action for their 2018 home-opener when Sage visits Picknelly Arena on Jan. 31 at 7:00 p.m.

2018 Clash at Kean All-Tournament Team
David Lehman (Stevens)
Gabe Shankweiler (Stevens)
TJ Wiechecki (Marymount)
Eric Wiles (Marymount)
Jared Warner (Kean)
Ian Capp (Kean)
Jordan Aprea (Lasell)
Martin Acevedo (Elms)