Hoboken, NJ - Cairn University's men's volleyball played a pair of matches over the weekend against #6 Stevens Tech and #11 New York University, losing both in competitive four set matches.
On Friday night, the Highlanders took on sixth-ranked Stevens Tech. The Ducks of Stevens took the first two sets by a similar score of 25-21, 25-21, before Cairn rebounded with a 25-21 win of their own in the third set. The host, however, would seal the victory with a more convincing 25-16 fourth set win.
Stephen Hirsch paced the Highlanders with a game-high 13 kills followed by
Ryan Garven with 10. Hirsch also tied for a game-high 8 digs on the night. Freshman
Randall Colson had 5 assisted blocks for a game-high to go with his 5 kills on offense.
Jon Wilson logged 39 assists.
On Saturday, the Highlanders took on eleventh-ranked New York University on the nuetral floor of Stevens Tech. This match took on a very similar pattern to the previous night, with Cairn falling behind early (25-19, 25-23) before pegging one back (25-22) in the third set. And just like the night before, the Highlanders ran out of gas in the fourth set and dropped the contest 25-13.
Noah Prickett made his return to the line-up with a tie for the game-high of 13 kills. Hirsch reached double figures for the second straight day with another 12 kills to his season total.
Matthew Rhodes had a team-high 8 digs, but NYU's Andrew Quirk came up with 17 digs. Despite having fewer kills and fewer assists as a team, Jon Wilson had the game-high of 35 assists.
Cairn is now 7-16 on the season with a very important final weekend coming up. The Highlanders will host the final Continental Volleyball Conference weekend on April 5th and 6th and a chance to make it to the post-season.
