Langhorne, PA - Cairn University hosted the Continental Volleyball Conference regular-season finale weekend with Thiel College, #8 Juniata College, Eastern Mennonite University, and #9 Stevenson University coming to town.

Cairk kicked off the CVC weekend on Friday against Thiel College, but following their opening set win, 25-20, the Highlanders lost three-straight to the Tomcats, 25-19, 25-23, 25-17, suffering a 3-1 defeat and a severe blow to their playoff chances.

Following a heavy-weight bout between #8 Juniata and #9 Stevenson, in which Juniata prevailed 3-1, the Highlanders squared off with the Royals of Eastern Mennonite for the third time this season. The third time did prove to be a charm after Cairn had lost both previous encounters.

Led by Noah Prickett and Stephen Hirsch, the Highlanders rallied from 1-2 down to win 3-2. Cairn took the opening set 25-21 before the Royals responded with back-to-back wins 25-16 and 25-21. With their backs to the wall, the Highlanders responded in-kind, forcing a fifth set with a 25-18 fourth set. In the final match, Cairn used a vocal home-crowd to power to a 15-9 win and 3-2 match victory.

Prickett and Hirsch each tallied 12 kills. EMU's Jesse Reist had a game-high 14 kills.

EMU lost their 2nd match of the weekend in Saturday's first match against Juniata, with the 8th ranked Eagles coming out on top 3-1.

#9 Stevenson and Thiel played out a 5-set thriller with the Mustangs of Stevenson prevailing 3-2.

Against Juniata, Cairn's Noah Prickett had a game-high 13 kills but was unable to propel the Highlanders to victory as Cairn fell 3-0; 25-22, 25-17, 25-20.

The weekend's 7th game featured Eastern Mennonite against Thiel College. EMU's 3-1 win created a tie for fourth place in the CVC's East Division with Cairn and EMU, each who had two wins apiece. The Highlanders , despite being out of the playoff picture, still had a game in hand and a chance to claim their third conference win of the season and claim fourth place all to themselves, pushing EMU to 5th.

In the weekend's finale, Cairn and #9 Stevenson would treat the crowd to a thriller, with Stevenson fighting for a chance to tie Juniata at the top of the standings. Thanks to 9 kills in the first set from Prickett, the Highlanders jumped out front with a 25-20 win. The Mustangs claimed the second and third sets, 25-20 and 25-20. Cairn took charge in the fourth set and earning a 25-19 win, forcing an edge-of-your-seat fifth set. The Highlanders held a 12-10 lead late into the set, but couldn't get past the final hurdle as Stevenson
went on a 5-1 run to close out the set and match, 15-13 and 3-2.

In the finale, Prickett had not just a game-high but a weekend-high of 21 kills. Hirsch had an impressive 16. Jon Wilson tallied 52 assists, one fewer than Stevenson's David Moler's 53.Kyle Wisner had 14 kills for the Mustangs.

The Highlanders finish the 2013 season 8-19 overall and 2-4 within the CVC East Division.