BANNER ELK, NC - The Crimson Eagles lost their second straight contest Saturday afternoon, falling to host Lees-McRae College in a hard-fought game that went down to the wire. The Bobcats scraped by with a 3-2 win over PBU, triumphing by scores of 30-19, 30-23, 27-30,24-30, and 15-10.

After a slow start for the Crimson Eagles, the squad finally began to get things rolling in the third and fourth games. But a rough patch in the final rally allowed Lees-McRae to steal a major upset victory in PBU's first back-to-back losses of the year.

Freshman Drew Dillon posted 34 assists, five digs, and two block assists in the loss, while Leo Dueck chipped in 16 kills, three aces, eight digs, and five block assists. Justin Brubaker finished with 21 kills and three aces.

Facing King's College for the second time this season in their second match of the day, the Crimson Eagles got back to routine form. PBU won by scores of 30-26, 30-26, and 31-29.

Dueck finished as the team leader in kills and added seven digs and four aces. Drew Dillon contributed 45 assists and 11 digs, and Brubaker added 12 kills and five digs.

After Saturday's contest, the Crimson Eagles sit with an overall record of 20-4, marking the second straight season the team as achieved the 20-plus win mark.

In their final regular season match of the year, the volleyball team will head to New York on Wednesday for a tough match-up against a strong Hunter College team (22-3) that's ranked 12th overall in the NECVA. Game time is set for 6:30 pm. PBU will begin NECVA postseason play late next week.