Newark, NJ - In the first match of Rutgers-Newarks Golden Dome Invitational, Cairn University's men's volleyball team squared off with the NCAA Div. III defending-national champions Springfield College.

Box Score

After winning their season opener, the Highlanders had their work cut out for them. Tonight's opponent, Springfield College, won last year's inaugural NCAA Div. championship. The Pride also came into the match boasting a preseason #1 national ranking.

In the opening set, it was virtually impossible to separate the two teams. The Highlanders and Pride traded points back-and-forth with neither team able to gain more than a two-point advantage before the other would bounce back. Springfield held a 7-5 lead before back-to-back kills from Cairn's Ryan Garven and Noah Prickett tied things up at 7-7. Battling point-for-point, the Highlanders eventually had a pair of two point leads of their own at 16-14 and 18-16. That's when the defending champs went on a 4-point run and jumping out to a 20-18 lead. Cairn would get a point back, 20-19, before 3 more Pride scores made it 23-19. Springfield would hold on for the 25-20 opening frame win.

For the second straight set, Cairn would take the opening point but it would be the only lead the Highlanders would have. Holding their own throughout but unable to get any closer, the Highlanders dropped the second set 25-18.

In the third set, the Highlanders once again grabbed the opening point but failed to build any momentum off of it. Impressively though, against such strong opposition the Highlanders refused to give up any large runs from Springfield. The Pride's biggest runs were limited to 4-point swings. Two of these swings came at the start and finish of the set. Tied at 2-2, the Pride jumped out to a 6-2 lead and maintained roughly a four to six point lead until the final push. With the score sitting at 22-16, Springfield closed out the contest with one final run to finish off the Highlanders 25-16.

Mike Pelletier had a game-high for Springfield, notching 15 kills. Mike Becker recorded 29 assists, while Nick Ferry had a game-high 8 digs. For the Highlanders, senior Noah Prickett led the offense with 8 kills on 30 attacks. Fellow senior Josh Tuttle finished right behind with 7 kills of his own. Josiah Buss had a team-high 7 digs on libero-duty. Jon Wilson returned to his spot as setter, recording 24 assists on the night.

Cairn has little time to dwell on the defeat as they return to the court tomorrow for back-to-back matches with Kean University and hosts Rutgers-Newark.  The first game is set for 4pm while second will start shortly afterwards around 5:30pm.