ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. -- The Elizabethtown College men's volleyball hosted their very first home match on Saturday as they welcomed nationally-ranked Kean and Misericordia for a tri-match at Thompson Gymnasium. E-town and Kean played in the Blue Jays' first-ever Continental Volleyball Conference game while the Jays and Misericordia played one another in non-conference action for the second time this season.

Kean (10-2, 3-0 CVC) jumped on top of Elizabethtown (3-7, 0-1 CVC) 3-0 in the first set on points from three different players. Seth Russell led the Cougars with 11 kills over the three sets. Kean, ranked No. 7 in the latest AVCA Division III poll, took the first set from E-town, 25-14.

The Blue Jays improved each set against their CVC opponents. The Cougars took another 3-0 lead in the second set, but Elizabethtown responded with three straight points of their own. Joey Nelson made it 3-2 with one of his seven kills and Ethan Maurer's service ace tied the set up at 3-3.

Ahead 9-6, the teams traded the next six points as Kean couldn't shake E-town. The Jays were within four late in the second set after Tim Zieber's kill, but the Cougars pulled ahead further as Russell proved hard to stop with back-to-back kills. Kean won the second, 25-17.

Elizabethtown got off to a slower start in the third, down 6-1 after the first seven points. They would get within four points six different times, but it just wasn't enough to overcome Kean in a 25-19 third-set loss.

Kean went on to sweep Misericordia (7-4) before MU played the Blue Jays in the final match of the day.

Kills by Maurer and Nick Baxter had the Jays ahead, but three quick points by the Cougars put them on top. Misericordia had E-town's number in the first set and won by ten, 25-15, to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

Four consecutive attack errors by the Cougars allowed the Blue Jays to pull ahead by five, 16-11. Nelson's kill on Zieber's set kept EC ahead by the same margin and forced MIS into a timeout.

Elizabethtown had set point at 24-21, but four straight from the guests made it 25-24. After an E-town timeout, Jason Campbell finished off the Jays with a kill to make it 2-0 instead of 1-1.

The Cougars held a slim lead in the beginning stages of the third, but began to pull ahead as the attacking errors hindered Elizabethtown's ability to get back into it. A few service errors didn't help the cause, either.

With Baxter serving, E-town rattled off three straight points to get back within one, 20-19, capped off by Baxter's ace and that dipped just over top of the net and hit the gym floor. Misericordia would go on to score the final six points and sweep the match.

Baxter led the Jays with 18 kills against Misericordia. Zieber provided 23 assists. Nelson and Baxter each had seven kills for EC in their earlier match with Kean.

The Blue Jays play at Juniata in another Continental Volleyball Conference match on Tuesday, February 12, at 7 p.m.