LANGHORNE, Pa. – The Cairn University men's volleyball team concluded their non-conference slate with a 3-1 (25-18, 25-23, 24-26, 25-22) victory at home against Eastern University inside the Mason Activity Center on Thursday evening, avenging their earlier season defeat at the hands of the Eagles.
"It feels great to win the rematch against Eastern." remarked Head Coach
Matt Bruder.
"The guys fought for every point, and that made the difference tonight. I'm super proud of what they accomplished this evening."
Cairn (7-7) took a 14-13 lead in set one, before rattling off a four-point run to take an 18-13 lead over Eastern (7-9). The Highlanders finished off a 25-18 win in set one to take a 1-0 match lead. Set two was hotly contested, as the two teams battled to a 23-23 stalemate near the end of the frame. An Eastern service error, followed up by a ball handling error on a long rally gave Cairn the win and a 2-0 match lead. The Highlanders attempted to finish off the sweep in set three, leading 23-21 near its conclusion, but Eastern stole the set after scoring five of the final six points of the frame to send the contest to a fourth set. The Eagles led 12-10 near the mid-point of set four, before a five-point serving run by senior
Caleb Horning (Adamstown, PA / Cocalico) granted the Highlanders their first lead of the set (15-12). Eastern tried to get back into it, trailing by just two at match point (24-22), but one final kill by Horning granted Cairn the win.
Cairn was paced on the offensive end by freshman
Moses Gamble (Rocklin, CA / Rocklin HS) who hammered home a season-high 18 kills to the tune of a .306 hitting percentage to go along with a match-high four aces. Horning followed with 15 kills, as the pair of outsides combined for 33 of Cairn's 55 kills in the match. Freshman
Josh Adler (Levittown, PA / Neshaminy) was outstanding, handing out a season-high 52 assists, the first 50-assist performance since 2018 (Ryan Ludvik – 50 vs. Lehman College) to pair with 11 digs. Adler's 50-assist effort is just the seventh time a Highlander has posted 50+ assists in a four-set match. Senior
Josh Moyer (Quakertown, PA / Quakertown Community) paced the back row for Cairn with a team-high 13 digs.
The Highlanders will not break for two weeks before beginning Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) play on the road at preseason favorite Lancaster Bible College on Wednesday, March 22 in Lancaster at 5 p.m.
