MORRISTOWN, NJ - Despite going down 2-0 for the first time all season, the Highlanders found a new level of grit and completed the reverse sweep, winning the championship match 3-2 to take the conference's first-ever men's volleyball title.

Before reaching the championship match, the Highlanders first had to take care of their semifinal opponent, the Wilson College Phoenix. In their regular season matchup, the Highlanders took down the Phoenix in three sets (25-6, 25-15, 25-16), and were expected to repeat the same results in this matchup. Cairn started some of their reserve players in the semifinal game, but the Phoenix came into the match with a chip on their shoulder and pushed the Highlanders to the brink in the first and second sets. Cairn won the first set 25-21, but were held to an uncharacteristic negative hitting percentage of -.059 for the set. Cairn's errors came back to bite them in the second set, which they dropped 25-19 to tie the game up at a set apiece. Slowly, the Highlanders integrated some of their usual starters back into the lineup, leading to a 25-21 Highlander victory in set three. In set four, the Highlanders finally found their rhythm, and won convincingly 25-5 to secure their ticket to the championship match. In the semifinal, Dave Cassel led the Highlanders with 10 kills.

The victory set the Highlanders up for a rematch with the #2 seeded Saint Elizabeth Eagles, who the Highlanders beat 3-1 in their last regular-season game just four days before. In that game, the first set loss was Cairn's first of the year to a conference opponent, signifying that the Eagles would be a tough and competitive finals opponent.

That prediction turned out to be more than true, as Cairn struggled to find rhythm offensively early in the championship match. The first set went point-for-point until both teams were tied up at 11-11. The Eagles then went on a major run, capitalizing on Highlander errors and riding the momentum of hosting a championship on their home court to power their offense and serving. Poor passing kept the Highlanders from getting their middles engaged early, usually a secret to their success, and Cairn dropped the first set 25-15 to go down a set to the Eagles for the second time in a week.

Cairn battled back in set two, again going point-for-point with Saint Elizabeth until the set was locked up at 20-20. Three Eagle kills and two Highlander hitting errors helped the Eagles go on a 5-0 run at the worst possible time, handing the Highlanders a 25-20 second set loss. Cairn had not trailed to a conference opponent 2-0 all season.

If they were to win the championship, the Highlanders were now faced with one of the toughest feats in volleyball: completing the "reverse sweep" comeback of winning the third, fourth, and tie-breaking fifth sets to take the match. After losing the chance to fight for a CSAC championship in 2019, the Highlanders were not about to go down without leaving everything they had on the court.

In the third set, the Highlanders came out with a renewed sense of purpose, spurred on by seniors Scott Bassill and Collin Benjamin, who perhaps felt the weight of the moment more than any other person on that court. Benjamin went on a huge service run in the middle of the set, scoring one of his four aces on the night, and the Highlanders plowed through the third set to take it 25-12. The offense finally got back on track, with the Highlander's hitting percentage jumping from .068 in the first two sets to .320 in the third.

The fourth set turned out to be a marathon between the two teams, with the Eagles desperate to secure the winning set and the Highlanders desperate to push the game to a deciding tiebreaker. While the Highlanders jumped out to a 16-11 lead, the Eagles battled back, tying the score a nerve-wracking 12 times throughout the set. In fact, each point from the 16th point on was tied, as both teams battled to get ahead by two. The Eagles had the chance to win it all up 25-24, but a service error kept the set rolling. Tied again at 26 all, Cairn turned to their big man in the middle, as freshman middle blocker Joe Poirier played hero for the Highlanders and secured a huge kill followed by a block assist to put the Highlanders over the edge, 28-26, and force that deciding fifth set. 

Set five found the Highlanders in the driver's seat from the jump. In a pre-COVID world, to reach the eighth point of the fifth set and trigger the side-switch first was a usual indicator of where the match momentum resided. Sans-side switch, the Highlanders were up 8-4 at the midpoint of the set, and the entire gym could sense that the Highlanders were destined to complete the comeback. A Caleb Horning kill followed by three straight Eagle hitting errors set the Highlanders on the brink, and, fittingly, senior setter Scott Bassill set up senior middle blocker Collin Benjamin for the final kill of his career and the final kill of the game: comeback complete.

After struggling early, the Highlander offense reached their usual levels of team-wide contribution. Both Caleb Horning and Collin Benjamin had 12 kills apiece, and Will Nase (11 kills), Dave Cassel (7 kills), and Joe Poirier (7 kills) all contributed at key points in the match. Horning and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Josh Moyer each had 13 digs, and Bassill and Poirier each had 6 blocks.

Following the match, senior setter Scott Bassill was named the Most Outstanding Player of the championship. Bassill recorded 40 assists, 11 digs, 6 blocks, 2 aces, and 2 kills in an all-around dominating performance to cap a stellar Highlander career. 

After a year unlike any other, this inaugural championship for the men's volleyball program could not have been sweeter. Congratulations to the Highlanders on an incredible season!