LANGHORNE, Pa. – The Cairn University women's volleyball team fell in five sets to the undefeated New Jersey City University Gothic Knights by a score of 3-2 (25-18, 15-25, 21-25, 25-18, 10-15) on Tuesday evening.
 
Cairn (2-5) jumped out of the gates fast and stunned undefeated Jersey City (4-0) in the first set when they rallied a 7-0 lead, a rally that included a pair of service aces from freshman Peyton Queen (Miami, FL / Lake Mary HS). The Gothic Knights came back and only trailed by four (22-18) late in the set, but three-straight points by the Highlanders gave Cairn a 1-0 lead in the match. Jersey City responded in the next two sets, claiming a dominant 25-15 second-set victory before out-dueling the Highlanders in the third set (25-21) to take a 2-1 lead. Trailing 10-9 in the fourth set, the ever-resilient Highlanders rose again, rattling off 11-straight points, stealing momentum from the Gothic Knights and won the fourth set (25-18). In the fifth-and final set, Cairn battled and trailed by one (9-8) at the midway point. However, the talented Gothic Knights team grabbed six of the last eight points to spoil the upset effort and remain unbeaten on the season.
 
Freshman Caroline Conrad (Bangkok, Thailand / International Community School) led the Highlander offense, tying a career-high with nine kills (also a team-high) and also grabbed 13 digs. She was followed by senior Allison Barnes (Macungie, PA / Salem Christian) who slammed down six kills, registered six service aces and earned eight digs. Sophomore Olivia Zepp (Westminster, MD / Francis Scott Key) earned a career-high five kills and dished out a team-high 23 assists. Queen led the defensive effort with team-and career high 20 digs and a team-high two blocks. Junior Lizzy Fay (Langhorne, PA / Neshaminy) totaled 16 digs and only two receiving errors on the evening.
 
Cairn will be back on the court on Thursday, September 16 when it is back on the road for a non-conference contest against Wilkes University at 7 p.m.