The crowd was loud during Rowan Volleyball’s (12-11) wild New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) match against Kean (13-10) on Oct. 22, as the Profs were able to fight through a 2-0 deficit to force a fifth set in front of a packed house at Esbjornson Gymnasium.

But the potential comeback storyline was short-lived as the Profs’ late rally wasn’t enough to hold off the Cougars, stopping their comeback short with a heartbreaking 3-2 loss (25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 28-30, 18-16). 

The match was a back-and-forth battle all night, with both teams swapping leads 10 times and being tied on 28 occasions. 

But, the Profs were unable to overcome their mistakes and inability to return Kean’s offensive bursts throughout the match, tallying 11 service errors and giving up 17 aces to the Cougars.

Head Coach Deana Jespersen commends her team on their ability to stay on Kean’s heels and keep things close throughout the match despite the loss.

“I think we grew up again today and I think we got one step better,” Jespersen said. “It is always heartbreaking, but they never stopped playing. They should be really proud.”

After falling behind 2-0, Rowan was able to go on a 7-2 run and score the last four points of the third set to avoid the sweep and cut Kean’s set advantage down to one.

It was a back-and-forth battle in the fourth, with the set tied late 24-24. The suspense continued as neither team could get a two-point advantage to end things, extending the set to end up deadlocked 28-28. A kill by Jena Kaul and an attack error by Kean brought the stressful set to a close with the Profs securing the win 30-28 and tying the match up 2-2, keeping their hopes of a comeback alive.

Jespersen says her team’s decision-making and ability to work together as a unit was the key to their success in the fourth set. 

“A lot of that is mindset stuff. They have to stay disciplined and they have to still take risks and trust that they’re prepared and trust each other,” Jespersen said. “I think they were doing that really well today, so I think in those moments that’s what was helping them. It is that they were really playing with each other and for each other, which was huge.”

The momentum Rowan built over the past two sets wasn’t enough in the end. Despite putting up 68 kills against the Cougars and hitting .225 (68-27-182) on the night, the Profs were unable to overcome their mistakes and succumbed to Kean in the fifth set, shutting down their hopes of a storybook ending. 

Both Kaul and Brooke Adams finished the match with double-doubles. Adams tallied a season-high 53 assists along with 12 digs.

Senior Maya Iovacchini also shined in the match, finishing with a career-high 17 kills. She says that in order to secure the win in these tough matches, the team needs to get better at striking first and keeping their opponents at bay.

“We’re definitely gonna work on coming at them from the very get-go. We’ve always kind of struggled with that,” Iovacchini said. “We are making sure that we shut them down immediately so we can carry on with the rest of the game.”

With their loss to Kean, the Profs fall below .500 in conference play (2-3). Three of their final five matches are against NJAC opponents, including Rutgers-Camden, Rutgers-Newark, and NJCU.

With their season winding down, Jespersen says her team will work to clean things up against conference opponents as the NJAC playoffs get closer.

“We still have three matches. We have Newark and Camden and NJCU, so we have to take what we did today and not stop because there’s still three good matches that we have to play,” Jespersen said. “So, hopefully, we’ll build that momentum so when we go into playoffs we feel pretty confident that we can win.”

The Profs next travel to Newark for a NJAC matchup against Rutgers-Camden on Oct. 24.

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