DALLAS, Pa. – The Cairn University men's volleyball team opened up the 2023 season at the Misericordia Tri-Match on Saturday evening, falling 3-0 (10-25, 18-25, 17-25) to perennial powerhouse St. John Fisher in match one, before taking a 3-1 (22-25, 9-25, 25-21, 15-25) defeat to host Misericordia in the nightcap.
 
In match one, Cairn (0-2) found itself matched up with a formidable opponent in St. John Fisher (2-0), as the Cardinals grabbed a 25-10 victory in set one. Cairn responded well in set two after falling behind 17-7, rattling off five-straight points on a service run by senior Cameron Cronk (Quakertown, PA / Quakertown Community). The Cardinals upped their advantage to 24-14, before Cairn made things interesting with a four-point swing on set point, but one final kill put away the second set for the Cardinals, and they used that momentum to take set three, 25-17.
 
Junior Will Nase (Harleysville, PA / Souderton Area) led the offensive effort in match one with a team-high six kills. Freshman Josh Adler (Levittown, PA / Neshaminy HS) posted a team-high nine assists and junior Kobe Cash (Yardley, PA / Calvary Christian Academy) scooped up a team-high seven digs.
 
In match two, the Highlanders engaged in a hotly-contested first set with Misericordia (1-1), and held a 22-21 lead over the Cougars in the opening frame. However, Misericordia closed the set with four-straight points to take a 1-0 match lead. After the Cougars claimed a commanding win in set two, the Highlanders responded in set three, jetting out to a 12-6 lead and never looked back, taking a 25-21 victory capped off by a kill by Nase to close the match deficit to 2-1. The Cougars finished off the match with a 25-15 win in set four.
 
Senior Caleb Horning (Adamstown, PA / Cocalico) paced Cairn's offense against Misericordia with a team-high nine kills, while Nase and freshman Moses Gamble (Rocklin, CA / Rocklin HS) added eight and seven kills, respectively. Adler handed out a match-high 34 assists in just his second collegiate match, while Horning led the defense with nine digs.
 
The Highlanders will be back on the floor on Monday, January 16 when they make the trip to Aston for a non-conference match with Neumann University at 7 p.m.