Langhorne, PA – The Highlanders improved to 2-0 on Saturday afternoon after they defeated Lancaster Bible College in an exciting, five-set match, 3-2. The two teams traded set wins until the Highlanders won the fifth and final set, 15-10.
Three of the five sets were decided by just two points with Lancaster Bible winning two of those sets, 25-23. Cairn won the second set by the largest margin of victory in the match, 25-15. Overall, the Highlanders led in kills, 59-40, and in digs, 52-44.
Lancaster Bible won the first set by just two points following a 4-0 run from the Highlanders. The Chargers were up 24-19 but The Highlanders were able to come back on a couple of Charger errors, a kill, and a service ace.
Andy Willits led the Highlanders in attacking with 19 kills and a .293 attack percentage.
Micah Godshall followed Willits with 16 kills in the match.
Matthew Gump collected 44 assists with three kills and two aces as the setter.
The Highlanders dominated set two and won by 10 points with a .500 attack percentage. The Chargers then came back and won set three with another score of 25-23. The Chargers went up 10-4 early on in that set but the Highlanders came back and eventually were winning 23-22. Lancaster Bible then finished off the set on a 3-0 run including an ace for the final point.
Nick Eberly led Lancaster Bible in attacking with nine kills; he was followed closely by Daniel Kreider with eight kills. Garyd Martin finished with 37 assists for the Chargers, while Nicholas Wesley led on digs with 11.
The Highlanders finished out set four exchanging points with the Chargers after leading the game 22-19.
Andy Willits hit a kill to go up 23-21 and an attack error kept the Highlanders ahead 24-22.
Micah Godshall finished off the set with a kill from the outside to send the match to a fifth set.
Cairn gained momentum in the fifth set after tying the game at 6-6 with a triple block by
Andy Willits,
Tyler Schuhly, and
Matthew Gump. The Highlanders won the next two points but the Chargers did not lag behind and tied the game at 9-9.
The Highlanders gained more momentum with kills by
Andy Willits and
Dan Winters and finished the match on a 6-1 run.
Micah Godshall once again finished off the set with a commanding kill, giving the Highlanders the win.
Ryan Ludvik led the team as the libero on the defensive front with 16 digs, Willits followed with 12 digs. As mentioned, the win moves Cairn to 2-0 to start the young season.
Cairn will next travel to Stevenson University on Friday, Feb. 5, to take on the Mustangs and kick off conference play in the Continental Volleyball Conference.
