LANGHORNE, Pa. – The No. 4 seed Cairn University women's volleyball team defeated the No. 5 seed Saint Elizabeth University Eagles at home by a score of 3-1 (23-25, 25-14, 25-10, 25-14) in the Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) quarterfinals on Tuesday evening. With the win, the Highlanders won their first playoff matchup since 2012 and advanced to the CSAC semifinals for the first time since 2013.
In the first set, Saint Elizabeth (5-16) replicated their start in their regular season matchup with Cairn (12-13) by grabbing a close 25-23 victory to take a 1-0 lead in the match. On the flipside, the Highlanders came back the same way they did in the regular season by snagging the second set from the Eagles to knot the match up at 1-1. The Highlanders took the momentum seized from the second set and dominated the Eagles in the third set (25-10) to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Saint Elizabeth, eager to ty to send the match to a decisive fifth and final set, took a 4-1 lead to start set four. The Highlanders quickly put out the Eagles' comeback effort, rattling off 12 consecutive points to take a 13-4 lead. The Highlanders went on another run from there, grabbing seven of the next nine points to snag a 20-6 lead. Saint Elizabeth made things interesting, winning eight of the next 12 points to trim the Cairn lead to 24-14. However, one final kill from junior
Kali Burres (Wanaque, NJ / Hawthorne Christian) finished off the match and sent the Highlanders to the CSAC Semifinals.
Cairn was led offensively by senior leader
Allison Barnes (Macungie, PA / Salem Christian) who slammed down a match-high 12 kills and recorded a game and season-high eight service aces. Freshman
Caroline Conrad (Bangkok, Thailand / International Community School) followed with nine kills and three service aces. Freshman
Peyton Queen (Orlando, FL / Lake Mary) added eight kills and matched Burres with four service aces. Five Highlanders recorded double figures in digs, led by Queen with a team-high 16, while Burres, Conrad, junior
Lizzy Fay (Langhorne, PA / Neshaminy) and sophomore
Olivia Zepp (Westminster, MD / Francis Scott Key) each scooped up 11 digs. Burres also tallied six kills while Zepp dished out a match-high 27 assists.
With the win, Cairn advanced to the CSAC semifinals where it will travel to Allentown to take on No. 1 seed Falcons of Cedar Crest College with a spot in the CSAC Championship match on the line at 7 p.m.
