Glenside, PA - On Saturday the Cairn men's volleyball team continued play in the Knight Invitational hosted by Arcadia University. Day two of the tournament was highlighted by a 3-0 (25-19, 29-27, 25-22) sweep of Wilkes Colonels in Cairn's final match of the afternoon. The sweep was Cairn's first victory of the season. Prior to the victory the Highlanders dropped a pair of matches against the Alvernia Crusaders, 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-19, 25-19), and the Lancaster Bible Chargers, 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-16).

Alvernia University defeats Cairn University 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-19, 25-19)
The Alvernia Crusaders won their first match in program history with a 3-1 victory over the Cairn Highlanders. The Highlanders were led by Andy Willits (13 kills) and Micah Godshall (11 kills) in the match.
 
In the first set the Highlanders fell behind early but battled back and took a 17-15 lead with a 4-0 run midway through the set. After three-straight attack errors by the Crusaders, Alvernia took a timeout and rattled off a 6-1 run immediately following the timeout to take a 21-18 lead. After a service error made it 21-19 the Crusaders came right back and won four of the final five points for a 25-20 victory.
 
The Highlanders rebounded nicely and won their first set of the 2017 season in the second set. The Highlanders jumped out to an early 5-1 lead. Cairn held that lead until an 8-3 run for the Crusaders tied the set at 12-12.
 
Just a few points later, with the match tied at 17-17 went on a 6-1 run that was highlighted by kills from Andy Willits, Juston Wolgemuth, and Micah Godshall to take a commanding 23-18 lead. The Crusaders did not go down quietly winning four the next five points to close the gap to two at 24-22. A service error from Alvernia gave the Highlanders a 25-22 victory in the set and tied the match at 1-1.
 
The third set was close throughout, but the Crusaders used a late 5-1 run to close out the set. Cairn trailed just 20-18 before the run to close out the set and fell to Alvernia 25-19.
 
Alvernia took care of the Highlanders in the fourth set, winning the set by the same final as the third with a 25-19 victory in the set. The fourth set victory gave the Crusaders their first victory in program history with a 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-19, 25-19) win.
 
Matthew Gump dished out 24 assists for the Highlanders while Ryan Ludvik collected 16 digs to lead Cairn in their respective categories.

Lancaster Bible College defeats Cairn University 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-16)
The Chargers took down the Highlanders in straight sets on Saturday afternoon to improve to 4-2 on the season and finish the Knight Invitational 3-0. The loss drops the Highlanders to 0-3 in this weekend's tournament. They will look to rebound against Wilkes University at 3:00 p.m.
 
In the first set the Chargers hustled out to an early 7-4 lead before Cairn came back and tied the match at 9-9 thanks to three-straight kills from Juston Wolgemuth, Andy Willits, and Matthew Gump. The set remained tied at 11-11, 13-13, and 15-15 before the Chargers started to create some space. Lancaster Bible led 21-19 before winning the final four points of the set to claim the 25-19 victory.
 
In the second set the Chargers took command of the set earlier on and held leads of 10-4, 17-11, and 22-13 before the Highlanders put together their best stretch of play late in the set. Cairn went on a 5-1 run but it was not enough as the Charges came away with a 25-19 victory in the set to take a 2-0 lead.
 
The Chargers went on a 6-1 run midway through the third set to turn a 10-8 lead into a 16-9 advantage. That run was a turning point in the set and Lancaster Bible held at least a five point lead the rest of the way. The Chargers grew their lead to as many as 10 points on three occasions en route to the 25-16 set victory and the 3-0 sweep of the Highlanders.
 
Micah Godshall (nine kills) and Juston Wolgemuth (eight kills) led the Highlanders' offense in the match. Matthew Gump handed out 20 assists in the match.

Cairn University defeats Wilkes University 3-0 (25-19, 29-27, 25-22)
The Cairn men's volleyball team finished up the Knight Invitational with a 3-0 sweep of the Wilkes Colonels for their first victory of the 2017 season. Micah Godshall led the Highlanders with 10 kills and five service aces and was tied with Joffrey Rosa for the team lead in blocks in the match with four.
 
Early in the match it was not smooth sailing for the Highlanders. Wilkes took early leads of 7-5 and 8-6, but Cairn rallied back to tie the set at 9-9. Wilkes responded by winning the next four points and take a 13-9 lead.
 
Then the Highlanders took advantage of a number of errors by the Colonels. Cairn went on a 9-1 run that included an ace from Juston Wolgemuth, two kills from Matthew Gump, and six errors by Wilkes. Now holding a four-point lead the Highlanders fought off a small run by the Colonels and won the final three points to take the set 25-19. Micah Godshall picked up the final point of the set with an ace.
 
The second set was a closely contested battle the whole way through. Both sides had strong runs of play throughout the set. The Colonels held control for the majority of the set holding a lead of 15-1, but the Highlanders fought back and tied it at 16-16 with a 5-1 run.
 
Later in the set with Wilkes leading 23-21, the Highlanders rattled off three-straight points to take a 24-21 lead, their first lead of the set since it was 8-7. With the Highlanders serving for a chance to take the set, Wilkes took the next point on a kill. Cairn on the following point on a kill from Andy Willits before Wilkes rattled off two-straight to take control at 26-25.
 
After trading points again, the Highlanders faced set point again trailing 27-26. Cairn won the final three points with a kill from Micah Godshall, a block from Godshall and Caleb Myers, and a setting error by Wilkes to take the second set 29-27 in dramatic fashion.
 
In the third set the Highlanders once again played catch up after falling into an early 5-1 hole. Cairn responded with a 5-1 run of their own just a few minutes later to tie the set at 7-7. The Highlanders continued the run and took an 11-8 lead after a kill by Micah Godshall and an ace by Ben Chapman.
 
Wilkes responded and took a 16-14 lead after an 8-3 run. After Cairn tied the match at 16-16, the two teams were not separated by more than one point until Cairn went on a four-point run to end the match and complete the sweep with a 25-22 victory in the third set. The four-point burst at the end was fueled by Micah Godshall who connected on a kill to tie the set at 22-22 and one point later collected a service ace. An attack error by Wilkes ended the match and gave Cairn their first victory of the season.
 
In the victory, Matthew Gump led Cairn with 17 assists and Ryan Ludvik collected a match-high 21 digs.
 
The Highlanders will be off until Feb. 7 when they travel to New Jersey City University for a match at 7:00 p.m.