Reading, PA - The Cairn men's volleyball team hit the road after a two-week layoff with a trip to Alvernia to take on the Crusaders. Alvernia took care of the Highlanders in straight set, 3-0 (25-13, 25-21, 25-16) on Tuesday evening. Andy Willits led the Highlanders with a game-high 10 kills on the evening. Juston Wolgemuth picked up a half dozen kills and Jon Simpson dished out 19 assists in the loss.
 
The victory for the Crusaders was their first conference win in program history. Alvernia moves to 10-9 overall and 1-5 in the conference.
 
The Highlanders started off strong in the first set with a 9-7 lead midway through the opening game. The Highlanders used kills from Ryan Ludvik, Juston Wolgemuth, and Andy Willits to build their lead, but the Crusaders went on a 7-0 run to turn the momentum and take a 14-9 advantage. Alvernia continued the streak to finish the set on an 18-4 run and take the first set by a 25-13 final.
 
The Crusaders once again used a large run in the second set to take control. This time the Alvernia run started earlier on; with the Highlanders leading 4-1, the Crusaders rattled off nine of the next 13 points to take a 10-8 advantage.
 
Led by two back-to-back kills from Andy Willits the Highlanders went on a 5-1 lead to take the lead back at 13-11. The Highlanders continued to hold control for the majority of the set and led 19-17 later in the game, but Alvernia hung around and went on an 8-2 run to close out the set 25-21.
 
With Alvernia leading 2-0, the third set opened with the Crusaders and Highlanders trading points for the first 20 points of the set. After a kill by Willits and an error by Alvernia the set was even at 10-10. The Crusaders opened up a 17-11 advantage with a 7-1 run, before the Highlanders won two-straight points with two errors by Alvernia.
 
The modest two-point run closed the gap to four points at 17-13, but the Highlanders could not get any closer as the Crusaders closed out the set, and the match, with the 25-16 victory in the game.
 
As mentioned, Andy Willits led all players with 10 kills in the match. Ben Norton and Ryan Ludvik led the Highlanders defense with 10 and nine digs respectively.
 
The loss drops Cairn to 3-21 on the season and 0-7 in the conference. The Highlanders will return home for a match against Stevenson University on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. in the Mason Activity Center.