LANGHORNE, PA- Looking to bounce back after a tough loss in their last home match, the Highlanders and star sophomore Lyntia Gwess, who came into the matchup tied for 13th in all of Division III women's volleyball with 68 kills, took to the court in hopes of a victory against the New Jersey City University Gothic Knights.

SET ONE

The Highlanders got off to a hot start, rattling off a 6-2 run to start the first set, highlighted by two service aces from freshman middle blocker Allison Barnes. Head Coach Whitney Seidel implored the Highlanders to keep the pressure on with their serves, as they collected two more service aces courtesy of Liz White and Haley Sheehan to extend the Highlander lead to 11-5 midway through the first set.  The Gothic Knights would not go away, as they collected the next four points out of a timeout to silence the Highlander momentum, and decrease the Cairn lead to 11-9. Sensing a change of momentum, the Highlanders picked up a huge block and kill courtesy of Barnes to stop the Gothic Knight Run. With the score at 17-12 in the first set, it was only a matter of time before the Highlanders star outside hitter Lyntia Gwess got involved, as she slammed home a kill to bring Cairn closer to winning the set at 18-12. Sitting two points away from a first set victory, the Highlanders were the beneficiaries of a pair of Gothic Knight errors, sealing victory by a score of 25-17.

SET TWO

Looking to build off their hot start, the Highlanders picked up right where they left off in the first set, notching three of the first four points, including another service ace courtesy of Allison Barnes to give the Highlanders a 3-1 lead early in the second set.  Unfortunately for the Highlanders, Jersey City rattled off six of the next eight points to take a narrow 7-6 lead. After two consecutive Gothic Knight points, Coach Seidel used a timeout to collect her troops in and refocus them for the remainder of the set. After another few mistakes, the Highlanders rattled off four consecutive points to cut the deficit to 17-15.  Just a few plays later, the Highlanders gained the lead off another Barnes service ace to take their first lead of the set at 18-17. With the set coming down to the final few plays, and the Highlanders leading by one at 23-22, Cairn came up with the final two points of the set to win the set 25-22, and in return taking the lead in the match 2-0.

SET THREE

With a quality opportunity to win the match in the third set, the Highlanders came out guns blazing, vaulting out to an 8-4 lead thanks in large part to a few of Lyntia Gwess' thunderous kills. Fast forward to midway through the third set, as the Highlanders found themselves leading 14-9, needing a flurry of points, the Highlanders leaned on senior captain Haley Sheehan to pick up a couple key kills and push the Highlanders to a comfortable 15-9 lead.  A quick Gothic Knight run made the set interesting, as NJCU quickly cut into the Highlanders lead, bringing the score as close as 22-20. Unfortunately for the Gothic Knights, this night belonged to the Highlanders, as Liz White dished a final set to Barnes, who slammed home the final kill to clinch the third set, 25-22.

WRAP UP

With the win, the Highlanders improve to 2-3 on the season.  Head Coach Whitney Seidel had a plethora of attack options tonight, as Lyntia Gwess led the way with eleven kills, to go along with a .300 hitting percentage.  Haley Sheehan continued her consistent play with nine kills of her own, Allison Barnes had a dominant serving run with four service aces in the third set, and Brooke Seidel had her best performance of the season thus far, collecting three kills to match a .500 hitting percentage on the evening.  The Highlanders start a four game road trip this Tuesday when they travel to Gwynedd Mercy to take on the Griffins at 6:00 PM.