Harrisonburg, VA – The Cairn men's volleyball team played a pair of matches on Friday night at Eastern Mennonite University. The Highlanders started their evening with a tough test against the No. 9 Eastern Mennonite Royals and were swept by the Royals 3-0 (25-16, 25-11, 25-20). The Highlanders then rebounded in their second match of the night and swept Bard College 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-16).

Match One - Eastern Mennonite defeats Cairn 3-0 (25-16, 25-11, 25-20)
 
Andy Willits led the Highlanders with 10 kills in the match, while Matthew Gump dished out 19 assists in the three sets. Ryan Ludvik collected 13 digs in the first match of the night to lead the Highlanders defensively.

The Royals quickly jumped out to a 9-3 in the first set. Cairn countered with a run of their own and pulled within one at 10-9. The 6-1 run was fueled by two kills from Andy Willits and a kill from Matthew Gump.

With Cairn trailing by one, the Royals reasserted themselves in the set with an 11-4 stretch that pushed their lead to 21-13 after a kill from Tim Callahan. Cairn then won back-to-back points off a pair of errors from Eastern Mennonite, but the Royals won four of the final five points to take the first set 25-16.

The second set started as a back-and-forth battle, with the Royals taking an early 4-2 lead, but the Highlanders tied it up at 4-4. A few points later, the Royals led by one at 7-6. Eastern Mennonite then rattled off seven-straight points to take a 14-6 lead. The Royals continued to build their lead over the course of the set and took the set 25-11.

With a 2-0 lead heading into the third set, the Royals held control of a majority of the final set. The Highlanders hung around throughout a majority of the set, but Eastern Mennonite held a small lead through most of the set. The set turned when the Royals held a slim 20-18 lead but won the next four points to take a 24-18 lead.

Cairn did win the next two points with a kill from Micah Godshall and an error from the Royals, but Eastern Mennonite finished off the set 25-20 with a kill from William Ringland.

Match Two - Cairn defeats Bard 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-16)

The Highlanders turned around their night with a clean sweep of the Bard Raptors 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-16). Cairn came out swinging in the match with Andy Willits (13 kills) and Micah Godshall (10) both going for double-digit kills in the match. Willits added 12 digs for his first double-double of the season.
 
Cairn controlled the pace of the match and took comfortable victories in the first and third sets and edged Bard in the second set, 25-21, to secure their second sweep of the season.
 
In the first set, Bard won the first two points thanks to errors by the Highlanders. Cairn quickly rebounded and went on a 12-2 run to take a commanding 12-4 lead. The early run was highlighted by three service aces, two from Matthew Gump and one from Micah Godshall.
 
Bard worked their way back into the set and trailed by just five at 15-10, but the Highlanders ended the set on a 10-5 run to take the first set 25-15. The final stretch in the set featured kills from four different Highlanders; with Godshall, Juston Wolgemuth, Joffrey Rosa, and Willits each connecting on attacks.
 
The second set was much closer throughout than the first. The lead changed hands three times in the early going and the Highlanders trailed 9-8 after a kill from Bard's Tyler Zowaski. Cairn took the lead for good in the set with a 6-1 run. Wolgemuth and Willits collected kills on the run and Rosa earned a service ace.
 
With Cairn hold a 14-10 lead in the set, Bard closed the gap to two points on four occasions but could never get any closer as the Highlanders took the set 25-21. Ben Norton ended the set with a kill off a set from Gump.
 
Leading 2-0, the Highlanders took care of business in the third set to complete the sweep. Cairn used a 16-3 run to flip a 10-8 deficit into a 24-13 advantage. The Raptors won the next two points, but a kill from Caleb Myers gave Cairn the 25-15 victory in the set and ensured a 3-0 sweep.
 
Cairn will be back in action tomorrow afternoon when they travel to Marymount University in Arlington, Va. at 1:00 p.m.