BALTIMORE, Md. – The Cairn University women's volleyball team collected its seventh-straight victory to start the 2022 campaign in a five-set thriller (26-24, 25-19, 19-25, 16-25, 15-12) on the road at Goucher College on Tuesday evening. With the win, the Highlanders extended their newly established program record for wins to start a season to seven matches. It is also the first victory for the Highlanders in a five-set match since 2017.
"This was the definition of a gritty win." remarked Head Coach
Whitney Seidel.
"We had to weather an increasingly more powerful Goucher attack, dig in, and find little moments to control the pace and momentum. Our teamwork and commitment to picking each other up was the key to beating a strong opponent tonight.
Cairn (7-0) found itself a formidable opponent in Goucher (1-6) from the get-go, embarking on a tightly-contested first set right out of the gates. In a first frame that had nine different ties, both teams found themselves deadlocked at 24 a-piece near the end of the set, forcing it to a tiebreaker. Cairn responded with two consecutive points, capped off by a kill from sophomore
Caroline Conrad (Bangkok, Thailand / International Community School) to give the Highlanders a 1-0 match lead. After trailing 8-7 in the second set, the Highlanders went on a five-point swing which included two kills and a block from sophomore
Hendryl Peabody (Bensalem, PA / Faith Baptist Christian Academy) to take a 12-8 lead, giving them enough momentum to close out the set and take a 2-0 match lead. Goucher did not go quietly, and handily claimed the third and fourth sets (25-19, 25-16) to send the bout to a fifth and final frame. In that stanza, both teams were at an 8-8 stalemate before Cairn ignited a five-point run to take a 13-8 lead. The Gophers responded with three points of their own to cut the deficit to two (13-11), but the Highlanders claimed two of the final three points to win the match.
Conrad led the offensive output for Cairn with a season-high 13 kills and tied a team-high with 17 digs. Conrad was followed closely by fifth-year
Allison Barnes (Macungie, PA / Salem Christian) who added 12 kills, 10 digs (matching freshman
Payton Cline (Falling Waters, WV / Heritage Academy)) and three solo blocks. Senior
Kali Burres-Cheeley (Wanaque, NJ / Hawthorne Christian) added eight kills and matched Conrad with 17 digs, while Peabody totaled six kills. Junior
Olivia Zepp (Westminster, MD / Francis Scott Key) dished out a match-high 32 assists and added 11 digs to mirror senior
Lizzy Fay (Langhorne, PA / Neshaminy) in digs. Altogether, six Highlanders finished the match in double figures for digs, a season-high.
Cairn will be back on the floor on Tuesday, September 20 when it makes its long-awaited return home to take on Delaware Valley University in a non-conference bout inside the Mason Activity Center at 7 p.m.
