LANGHORNE, PA- Fresh off their first win of the season on Saturday over St Joseph's - Brooklyn, Cairn women's volleyball took the court once again on Tuesday evening, hosting the King's College Monarchs in a non-conference affair.

SET ONE

The Monarchs came out of the locker room with the advantage, using their length and speed up front to garner an early 9-3 advantage.  Needing a quick response, the Highlanders turned to sophomore outside hitter Lyntia Gwess, who smashed home two consecutive kills to cut the Monarchs' lead to 9-5 midway through the first set.   King's College quickly responded with 3 kills to extend their lead to 12-5, before Gwess again notched another kill to keep the Highlanders in the set. Trailing 14-7, needing a momentum swing, the Highlanders responded with two kills courtesy of Haley Sheehan and Allison Barnes to keep the Monarch lead reasonable going into the later portion of the first set.  However, King's College refused to give up the momentum, forcing Head Coach Whitney Seidel to burn a timeout with the Highlanders trailing the Monarchs 18-11. The Highlanders showed their resilience, rattling off 4 of the next five points to keep the Monarchs at bay. However, their efforts were not enough to overcome King's early lead, as the Monarchs ended up winning the set by a score of 25-17.  

SET TWO

After a lackluster first set, the Highlanders stormed out to a 4-0 lead early in the second set, capped off by a ferocious block by freshman middle Allison Barnes. However, King's College quickly responded, notching 5 of the next 7 points to briefly quiet the Highlander streak.  King's continued to build on their momentum, tying the set up at 8 midway through the second set. The game did not stay tied for long, as a service error by the Monarchs gave the Highlanders the lead once again. The momentum continued to swing back and forth, as both teams exchanged kills, and errors, which lead to a deadlocked score at 14-14 midway through the second set.  Trailing 18-16, knowing the importance of this set, Head Coach Whitney Seidel used another time out, hoping to regain momentum and give the Highlanders a chance to pull even in the match. After exchanging points, a block by junior opposite Brie Norton forced King's to burn their first timeout of the match with the score knotted at 21-apiece. The Highlanders would not be denied, as Brie Norton went on a dominant serving run to notch the last 4 points of the set and give Cairn a 25-21 victory.

SET THREE

Both teams knew the importance of the third set, and traded points throughout the early goings.  Seeking a breakthrough, the Highlanders turned to their ever-consistent outside Lyntia Gwess, who came through with another kill to give the Highlanders the lead, and bring her total to an impressive 17 kills through 2 and a half sets.  The Monarchs responded with 9 of the next 13 points to grab the lead back from the Highlanders. With the score set at 13-8 in favor of King's College, the Highlanders senior leader Haley Sheehan thundered a kill through the Monarch defense and bring the score closer at 9-13.  However, the Monarchs went on another run to close out the third set, notching the last 6 points and winning the third set 25-14.

SET FOUR

With their backs against the wall, the Highlanders came out slightly flat, giving up the first three points of the match before Barnes notched a kill to give the Highlanders their first point of the set.  The freshman's kill was quickly followed by another from Lyntia Gwess to cut the Monarch lead to 3-2. Both teams traded blows over the next ten minutes, seeking a final push to take the fourth set. With the score set at 16-12, the Highlanders responded with two quick points, capped off by an ace by Gwess to cut the King's College lead to 2.  However, the skilled Monarch offense proved to be too much, as the Highlanders dropped another competitive set 25-16, and in turn, fell in the match 3 sets to 1.

WRAP UP

Lyntia Gwess was magnificent in the loss, notching 23 kills to go along with a .319 hitting percentage to lead all players.  Haley Sheehan proved to be impressive as well, collecting 12 kills as well. Liz White was consistent in her setting role, collecting 39 assists, and Micaiah Randolph showed continued improvement on the back line, collecting a game-high 14 digs.  With the loss the Highlanders drop to 1-4 on the season. They will be back in action on Thursday evening when they take on New Jersey City University at 7:00 PM.