Langhorne, PA - The Cairn men's volleyball team hosted the nationally-ranked No. 14 Juniata Eagles on Saturday night in the Mason Activity Center. The Highlanders hung with the Eagles throughout the evening, but ultimately fell short in a 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-21) sweep. Cairn played arguably their best match of the season, swinging at a season-high .232 mark and collecting 39 kills in three sets.

Matthew Gump dished out a match-high 36 assists. Andy Willits and Ryan Ludvik anchored the offensive effort for Cairn with 17 and 15 kills respectively. Ludvik's 15 kills is a new career-high for the sophomore, it bested his previous career-high of 13 that he set on Friday night against Thiel.

The Eagles started off just as strong as their No. 14 national rank might indicate. Juniata won the first five points in the first set and eventually took an 11-4 lead. Cairn regained their composure with a 7-3 run to pull within three points at 14-11. The Cairn run was fueled by a pair of kills from Ryan Ludvik and Andy Willits. Juston Woglemuth also added a kill in the run.

The two sides then traded the next seven points before Wolgemuth and Ben Chapman collected back-to-back kills to pull Cairn within two at 18-16. After Chapman's kill the Eagles ended the set on a 7-3 run with Mahlon Bender collecting four kills in the stretch, including three of the last four points. The Eagles won the set 25-19 and took a 1-0 lead in the match.

In the second set, the Highlanders took an early 3-2 lead, but had to play catch-up late in the set after the Eagles went on a 20-9 run that spanned the majority of the set. Now trailing 22-9, the Highlanders started to mount a comeback. Cairn rattled off four-straight points and six of the next seven to pull within five at 23-18. Ryan Ludvik highlighted the run with three kills in the stretch.

It was Juniata's Bender again that ended ended the set with a kill and gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead in the match after taking the second set by a 25-19 final.

Juniata opened the third set with a 4-2 run and the Highlanders had to again try and come from behind. The Eagles opened up as large as a six-point lead at 14-8, but the Highlanders did not go down quietly. It took a majority of the set, but Cairn battled back and pulled with one at 20-19 after a bad set from Juniata. The Eagles responded by winning five of the final seven points to take the set 25-21, and the match 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-21).

The loss drops the Highlanders to 2-13 on the season and 0-2 in the CVC. Cairn will next take the floor in a conference match on the road against Rutgers-Newark on Wednesday. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m.