Box Score

Mahwah, NJ - A win against non-conference rivals Ramapo College was within reach for Ben Fuller and the Highlanders men's volleyball team, but a 2-0 lead slipped againsts the Roadrunners.

Cairn came out on the wrong end of a 3-2 score after taking a 2-0 lead on the road Monday night. Ethan Mawhinney had a big night for the Highlanders with a team-high 15 kills and a game-high 4 service aces and 9 blocks, while Noah Prickett tallied 12 kills of his own. Jon Wilson finished with a game-high 40 assists and a team-high of 12 digs on defense. Wilson also collected 3 service aces.

The Highlanders never trailed in the first game, quickly jumping out to leads of 4-1 and 8-3. The Roadrunners would fight back to a one-point deficit at 8-7 but that was as close they would get to overcoming Cairn, as the Highlanders won the opening game 25-21.
In game two, neither team gained a real upperhand throughout as the teams battled to a 22-22 score. At that point, three straight scores from the Highlanders earned Cairn a 25-22 win and a 2-0 lead.

Midway through the third, things were looking good for a Cairn sweep over their host, leading 15-11. However, Ramapo rallied back and took the lead from Cairn at 20-19. At 24-22, the Highlanders weren't ready to give up on the potential sweep and made a rally of their own, tying things at 24-24. A service error on Cairn and a Ramapo killed forced a 4th game though with a 26-24 Ramapo win.

In the fourth set, the teams stayed within a point of each other all the way to an 11-10 Ramapo lead. A pair of Roadrunner errors and kills by Jon Wilson and Ethan Mawhinney saw Cairn push to a 14-11 lead with the four-point swing. Ramapo restored parity with a 3-point run of their own, knotting things at 14-14. A 4-0 run late in the set from Ramapo saw the Roadrunners close in on their second win of the match, leading 23-20 and eventually secured the win 25-23 and forced a decisive fifth set.

In the final set, where anything can happen, Ramapo carried all of their momentum from winning the two previous sets, after being down 2-0 and on the brink of being swept by Cairn, and never looked back. The Roadrunners never trailed in the final set, taking it 15-12 and managed to snatch victory from the Highlanders.

Brian Colabella had a game-high 16 kills for Ramapo while Peter Desvousges finished with 15 and Nick Hrehovcik slammed 11. Aaron Kerschner had a game-high 18 digs.

The defeat drops Cairn to 5-10.

Conference rivals Stevenson University comes to Cairn on Wednesday for a 7pm start.