Balanced Attack Leads Top-Seeded Kean to Sweep over No. 8 Brooklyn

Balanced Attack Leads Top-Seeded Kean to Sweep over No. 8 Brooklyn

Bookmark and Share

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – A balanced attack and a .291 hitting percentage helped top-seeded Kean University to a 3-0 sweep (25-18, 25-21, 25-21) over No. 8 Brooklyn College, Saturday afternoon in the 2022 ECAC Division III Women's Volleyball Championship.
 
Morgan Hall led the Cougars’ attack with nine kills and was one of five different attackers to register at least five kills, including Ashley Smith (8), Taylor Micheaux (6), Kate Rutigliano (5) and Anne Beckemeyer (5). Smith led the Cougars with four aces and two blocks and was second on the squad with seven digs. Sian Seeger had a team-best 10 digs. As a team, Kean hit .291 and had seven service aces and five blocks.
 
Tessa Winkleman led Brooklyn College with 11 kills and was tied for second on the team with five digs. Aleah Rafat led the Bulldogs with 11 digs and three aces and Ayatallah Elkotby had a hand in three blocks to lead her team at the net. The Bulldogs hit just .174 for the match, but had eight aces and seven blocks, leading Kean in both categories.
 
In the opening set, Kean jumped out to a 9-5 advantage before Brooklyn put together a run and tied the match 10-10. It remained close and was just a two-point margin at 18-16 in favor of Kean before the Cougars closed out the set with 7-2 run for the 25-18 win.
 
The momentum of the run carried into set two, and Kean again jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead. The Cougars continued to pull away and led by as many as 10 at 17-7. Down 22-13, Brooklyn rallied behind the serves of Rafat and Alanis Guinada to cut it to a three-point deficit at 23-20. A timeout by Kean stopped the rally and allowed the Cougars to take set two, 25-21, giving Kean a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Kean scored the first six points of set three before a timeout from Brooklyn. The break was advantageous for the Bulldogs and they rattled off the next six points to tie the set 6-6. It was tight the rest of the way as neither team could pull away from the other. Kean took a 15-11 lead, and looked like they would cruise to the victory, but again Brooklyn had an answer and got within one at 19-17. Still a two-point match at 23-21, the Cougars took advantage of an attack error and a kill from Alison Kowalewski ended the set and the match in favor of the top seed.
 
No. 1 Kean will now face No. 4 New Jersey City in the semifinals of the 2022 ECAC Division III Women's Volleyball Championship. Visit the 2022 ECAC Division III Women's Volleyball Championship page to learn more.