IMMACULATA, Pa.- The Immaculata men's volleyball team returned home on Thursday evening for its home opener and CVC opener with a doubleheader against perennial-power Kean. Immaculata battled throughout both matches but fell by a final of 3-0 in the first match and 3-1 in the second match of the evening.

In the first set, Immaculata and Kean traded points early through the first five points of the set before Kean used a series of short runs to claim a lead it would never relinquish. The Cougars closed out the first set with steady play to claim the first set by a final of 25-14 to also claim a 1-0 lead in the match.

 In the second set, it was a similar story as Kean again used short runs to claim and extend its lead throughout the set en route to a 25-17 second set victory and 2-0 match lead.

Kean raced out to a 9-2 lead to open the third set, which prompted an early Immaculata timeout. Following the timeout, Kean continued its control of the third set as the Cougars rolled to the 25-7 third set victory, which also gave them the 3-0 match victory.

In the first match of the day, Garrett Pepper led the way for the Macs with three kills and five digs while also tying with Bryce Wiltbank for a team-high blocks. Freshman Joe Martell also turned in a solid performance ending the evening with seven assists. As a team, Immaculata hit -.082 on the match with the Macs best set coming in the first set when the team hit .091 in the opening set.

In the first set of the second match, Immaculata and Kean traded points throughout much of the early going as the match was tied through the first eight points. Kean would go on a run near the midway point to claim a 16-8 lead. Immaculata responded with an impressive 13-3 run of its own to even the score at 19-19 late in the first set. Immaculata closed out the first set with a 5-3 run to claim the first set victory by a final of 25-23.

In the second set, Immaculata and Kean traded points throughout the early going once again but it was Kean who carried an 11-5 lead into an Immaculata timeout. Following the timeout, Kean continued its run to earn the 25-11 second set victory and even the match at 1-1.

In the third set, Immaculata and Kean traded points through much of the early going as the match was tied at 11-11 midway through the set. Kean went on a 4-0 run to claim a 15-11 lead, which led to an Immaculata timeout. Immaculata responded with a 3-0 run out of the timeout to bring the match to 15-14 before another run from Kean extended the Cougars advantage to 22-17 late in the third set. Following an Immaculata timeout, the Macs went on another 4-0 run to trim the deficit to 22-21, which forced the Cougars to call a timeout. In the closing moments of the third set, Kean held on to escape with a 25-23 set win and claim a 2-1 lead in the match.

In the fourth set, Kean opened on a 15-7 run to claim a lead midway through the set, which prompted an Immaculata timeout. Following the timeout, Kean closed the match on a 10-4 run to earn the 25-11 fourth set victory and 3-1 match win to sweep the doubleheader.

As a team in game two, Immaculata hit .176 on the match led by a .571 hitting percentage from Martell. Martell ended the second match with a team-high 26 assists while Pepper logged 10 kills and seven digs to lead the Macs in each of these categories. Bryce Wiltbank played well in the second match of the night as well, registering a team-best three blocks in the setback.

Immaculata will return to the court on Saturday morning for a doubleheader against Rutgers Newark with game one of that doubleheader set to begin at 11 a.m. with game two to follow.