Mahwah, NJ:  In a battle of the top two teams in the Skyline Conference, the #5 ranked Cougars of Kean University defeated the Roadrunners tonight 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 27-25).  Ramapo falls to 15-13 overall and 10-2 in the conference, as Kean improves to 23-3 overall and remains undefeated in the conference at 9-0.
 
In the first set, the Cougars worked to a 6-2 lead after back-to-back kills from Ron Dunn put Kean ahead by four.  The Roadrunners responded with a 7-2 run of their own to jump ahead by one, 9-8 after two consecutive hitting errors from Kean.  It wasn't enough as Kean worked to a 14-10 advantage, and then a 20-13 edge, never looking back to take game one, 25-17.  Dunn and Jacob Kauffman each collected four kills while the team hit a combined 14-2-28 (.429).  Dunn dished out nine assists and Kauffman picked up three digs.  For Ramapo, rookie Justin Feigeles put away a team leading five kills as the team hit 14-9-36 (.139).  Alec Weissman collected 12 assists and Kurt MacDonald led the defense with five digs.
 
Much of the second set was in Kean's favor, until the final points when with Kean leading 24-17, Ramapo made a final push to string together five points to close the gap, 22-24, but a final serving error from Ramapo gave the Cougars the set two win, 25-22, and the 2-0 set advantage.  Bez Arslani led the Cougars with five kills and the team hit .333 going 12-3-27, while Dunn assisted on eight points and John Cunningham picked up four digs.  The Roadrunners hit a collective .118 with 11 kills on 34 attempts and seven errors.  Rookie Marinus Tavernier led the way with four kills and Weissman dished out nine assists, while MacDonald again led the defense, this time with four digs.
 
The Roadrunners jumped out to a three-point lead at the start of the third set, 4-1, but the Cougars slowly crept in eventually tying the game at 6-6 with a Ramapo hitting error.  After a 7-7 tie, the Cougars would push ahead to 12-9 after a kill from Tommy Rosario, before pushing ahead to 14-10 with a block straight down from Dunn and Roasario.  Ramapo started to chip away at Kean's lead, tying the game at 16 with an ace from Ryan Casci.  The two teams would flip flops points until a 25-25 tie, Kean's Arslani and an attack error from Ramapo, would give the Cougars the victory.  The Cougars hit .184 going 15-8-38, with Arslani leading the way with eight kills.  Dunn collected 14 assists and Cunningham picked up seven digs.  Ramapo hit a combined 11-9-37 (.054) with four kills for senior Peter Desvousges.  Weissman dished out nine assists in the loss.
 
On the night, Arslani led all Cougars with 16 kills and Kauffman added nine as the team combined hitting .301 with 41 kills on 93 attempts and 13 errors.  Dunn finished the night with 31 assists and Cunningham led the defense with 12 digs.
 
Desvousges recorded a team leading ten kills in the loss and Tavernier added eight, as the team went 36-25-107 hitting .103.  Weissman assisted on 30 points and MacDonald led the way with 13 digs.
 
The Roadrunners return to action on Saturday, March 28th when they host the Sages at 4pm at the Bradley Center.