Box Score

Langhorne, PA - The Cairn University men's volleyball team were competitive Wednesday night with #9 Stevenson University, utilizing a very young squad, but couldn't find the magic to knock off the ranked Mustanges, falling by a score of 3-0 (25-15, 25-23, 25-19).

With the score sitting at 9-8 in favor of Stevenson in the first set, the Mustanges used four consecutive 3-0 runs, with a single Cairn point inbetween each run, to open up a 17-11 lead. At 18-13, Stevenson then went on a 5-0 burst to close in on the opening game win at 23-13. The teams traded the final four points as Stevenson earneda 25-15 win.
The second set was back and forth with the Highlanders holding a slight one or two point lead up to an 11-9 scoreline. Stevenson closed the gap by tying things up at 11-11, but a pair of kills from Ryan Garven and a block from Colin Wolff and Jon Wilson helped Cairn respond to open up a 15-11 lead halfway through the set. Stevenson quickly had a response of their own, fighting back and once again knotting things up at 16-16. Despite holding a late 19-17 lead, Cairn would let another lead slip away as a four point turnaround allowed the Mustangs to take a 21-19 advantage. Cairn did their best to stage a late rally, tying things up at 23-23 but two straight kills from the visitors gave Stevenson a crucial 25-23 win, and 2-0 lead.

The Highlanders were tied with Stevenson at 1-1 but were never able to lead or square things up in the final set. Although Cairn remained within three points throughout the game until the Mustangs stretched things out to a six point lead at 23-17 and eventually 25-19, the Highlanders were never able to gather any headwind for a formittable comeback.

2nd year Head Coach Ben Fuller went with a youthful squad tonight, featuring three freshman, three sophomores, and two juniors. Second year player Ryan Garven paced the Highlanders with 12 kills, matching his career-high, and added 4 blocks. Rookie Randall Colson notched 6 kills with 5 blocks, two of which were solo blocks. Fellow freshman Colin Wolff made his presence known on defense with a game-high 7 blocks, while contributing 4 kills on offense. Stephen Hirsch had 4 kills while Josiah Buss finished with 3. Jon Wilson logged 26 assists. 

Stevenson's Austin Jacoby had a game-high 13 kills.

Cairn is now 7-14 overall and 1-3 in the Continental Volleyball Conference. Stevenson improves to 15-7, 3-1.

This weekend, the Highlanders will travel to Hoboken, NJ to square off against Stevens Institute of Technology on Friday night, before tangling with New York University on Saturday.