Lancaster, PA - The Cairn men's volleyball team traveled to Lancaster Bible and fell in straight sets 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-19). The Highlanders were led offensively by
Andy Willits with 11 kills on the night.
Ryan Ludvik collected 13 digs and
Matthew Gump paced Cairn with 14 assists.
The Highlanders fell behind early in the first set and trailed 11-4, but came roaring back with an 11-3 run to take a 15-14 lead. The massive run was highlighted by three kills from Willits. The Highlanders continued to hold a slim lead and held an 18-17 advantage before the Chargers ended the set on a 8-4 to take the first game 25-22.
The second set started much like the first, with the Chargers opening the stanza with a 13-5 run. Cairn won the next three points with three errors from Lancaster Bible to close the gap to 13-8. After the short Cairn run, the Chargers went on a 7-2 run to push their lead to 20-10. The Highlanders quickly responded with a 5-1 run that featured an ace from
Ben Chapman and a kill from Willits.
Cairn continued to close the gap to 24-19 after a 4-1 run, but the Chargers closed out the set with a kill by Sky Woelkers. Lancaster Bible won the set 25-19, but the Highlanders' bigger loss came when setter
Matthew Gump left due to an injury midway through the set.
In Gump's absence,
Jon Simpson stepped in and dished out seven assists in his first collegiate appearance over the final two sets.
Leading 2-0 heading to the third set, the Chargers stormed out to a 14-5 lead in the third game. Cairn later trailed 21-11, but fought back with a quick 5-1 run to pull within six at 22-16. Following the Highlanders' run, the Chargers and Highlanders traded points the rest of the way and Lancaster Bible took the set 25-19 and the match 3-0.
As mentioned, the Highlanders were led by
Andy Willits with 11 kills in the match.
Juston Wolgemuth picked up six kills in the match.
With the win Lancaster Bible earns their 17th victory of the season, marking their most victories in a single-season in program history.
The loss for the Highlanders, drops Cairn to 3-20 on the season. The Highlanders will now take off the next two weeks and hit the court on Tuesday, Mar. 21 when they travel to Reading to take on the Alvernia Crusaders at 7:00 p.m.
