Jersey City, NJ - On Tuesday night the Cairn men's volleyball team earned their second victory in as many matches with a 3-1 (25-23, 19-25, 25-20, 25-22) victory over the New Jersey City Gothic Knights. Andy Willits led the Highlanders with 17 kills, his fifth match of the season with double-digit kills. Ben Chapman turned in the best performance of his career with four service aces in the first set and seven kills.
 
Matthew Gump dished out a season-high 34 assists in the match and collected five kills of his own (more than doubling his season total entering the match). Gump earned an impressive .625 hitting percentage collecting the five kills on just eight attempts.
 
Despite a nine-day layoff since their last match the Highlanders started off strong winning the first set 25-23. While the Highlanders emerged victorious in the set, it was not smooth sailing the whole way through. Cairn needed a 7-0 late in the game to turn a 20-17 deficit into a 24-20 lead. The Gothic Knights won the next three points, but the Highlanders held on thanks to a service error to take the set.
 
The late first set run was fueled by first-year player Ben Chapman. Chapman started the run with a kill off a set from Matthew Gump and then tallied four service aces over the next five points, including three straight. Joffrey Rosa capped off the run for the Highlanders with a kill that put Cairn up four.
 
The second set was not as kind to the Highlanders as the Gothic Knights took the set 25-19. In the set New Jersey City out killed the Highlanders 16-8.
 
Now tied 1-1 the Highlanders and Gothic Knights battled throughout the third set to take the upper hand. Trailing 11-10, the Highlanders went on a 10-3 to put them in the drivers' seat for the rest of the set. The run featured four kills from Andy Willits and one from Chapman.
 
After the Cairn run, the two sides traded points the rest of the way and the Highlanders came away with a victory in the all-important third set, 25-20.
 
Much like the third, Cairn used a late run to take control of the fourth set and come away with the set and match victory. On the wrong side of an 18-15 score, Ben Norton hammered home one of his four kills on the evening to start a 6-0 run that put the Highlanders up 21-18. On the run, five different Highlanders collected points with kills coming from Norton, Gump, Rosa, and Willits while Juston Wolgemuth collected his fourth service ace of the season.
 
Cairn's run ended off a kill from New Jersey City's Jimmy Vega. That kills sparked a modest 4-2 for the Gothic Knights that pulled them within one at 23-22. Cairn held firm with kills from Willits and Chapman to end the match and give Cairn their second victory of the season.
 
The 3-1 (25-23, 19-25, 25-20, 25-22) victory moves the Highlanders to 2-11 on the season. Cairn will next take the court on Friday when they host Thiel College in their first home and conference match of the season. Game time slated for 7:00 p.m. in the Mason Activity Center.