Kean Bests York Men’s Volleyball in Four Sets
Box Score
JAMAICA, NY— In what was a tight match throughout, Kean University defeated the York College men's volleyball team 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-19, 25-20) in a non-conference match Monday night.
The Cardinals could not earn the victory despite a match-high 21 kills from freshman Ahmed Helmi. Helmi also added a team-high eight digs, six aces and three blocks in the loss. Jhonnattan Fernandez and Alex Niles each picked up seven kills, while setter Kenan Kajtezovic recorded 32 assists. Kean was led by Christian Portera who slammed 18 kills (.417), while also recording eight digs.
After York lost the first set, they came out strong in the second, earning a 25-22 victory to even the match up at 1-1. The third set was close, with York closing the Kean lead to 20-18 after a Fernandez kill. However, the Cougars closed the set strong, winning five of the final six points to go up 2-1.
In the fourth set, Kean scored the first eight points and never looked back. York did manage to mount a rally and closed the gap to 10-8 following a Kean attack error. The Cougars held off the rally and scored ten of the next 14 points to go up 20-12. York once again did its best to make it interesting, but could not get closer than five points the rest of the way.
With the loss, York drops to 12-15, while Kean improves to 8-16. The Cardinals will have a quick turnaround when they host Hunter College tomorrow at 7:00 p.m.
