Owings Mills, MD – Cairn University men's volleyball opened up their 2016 conference season with a 3-0 loss at Stevenson University on Friday evening. The Mustangs won the first two sets 25-13 and 25-15 but the Highlanders put up a fight in set three.
 
Overall, the Mustangs collected 35 kills to the Highlanders' 22, and doubled up the Highlanders on digs 32-16. Andy Willits led the team in kills with six, followed by Dan Winters with five. Matthew Gump finished with 18 assists and led the team in digs with seven.
 
The Highlanders had a .000 attack percentage in the first set and a negative percentage in the second set. However, Cairn came back in set three with a .207 attack percentage and 11 total kills. The Highlanders led on a couple different occasions in the final stanza and eventually tied the game at 19-19.
 
Cairn was forced to take a timeout after the Mustangs scored the next two points and led 21-19. Following the timeout, Stevenson finished off the match by scoring the final four points in a row on two kills and two Highlander attack errors.
 
Patrick Schuyler led the Mustangs in kills with nine, while Rob Wingert collected 29 assists. Andy Van thuyne led the team in digs with 10 total. Micah Godshall led both teams in blocking with five total throughout the match.
 
With the loss, Cairn fell to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the CVC. Stevenson, ranked No. 13 in Division III, improved to 4-2 overall and 1-0 in the conference with the win. The Highlanders will next travel to Mount Saint Vincent College tomorrow, Feb. 6, to play the hosts and Emmanuel College in a tri-match.