IMMACULATA, Pa.- The Immaculata men's volleyball team continued its season-long four-game home stand on Wednesday evening against a non-conference foe in Cairn. Immaculata captured the first set but Cairn rallied to claim the match victory by a final of 3-1.
In the first set, Immaculata jumped out to an early 10-3 lead, which prompted an early Cairn timeout. Immaculata used this early lead to cruise to a 25-21 first set victory and claim a 1-0 lead in the match.
In the second set, Immaculata and Cairn traded points throughout the early going but it was a Cairn run, which gave the Highlanders a 14-11 lead midway through and prompted an Immaculata timeout. Following the timeout, Immaculata went on a 5-2 run to even the score at 16-16, which led to the Highlanders burning their first timeout of the second set. Following this, Cairn went on a 9-4 run to close out the second set and even the match at 1-1.
In the third set, Immaculata jumped out to an early 4-1 lead but it was a mid-set run by Cairn, which allowed the visitors to claim a 16-10 advantage in the middle stages of the set, which prompted an Immaculata timeout. Following this timeout, Immaculata went on a 6-0 run to even the score at 16-16. Cairn closed the set on another 9-4 run to earn a 25-20 third set victory and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
In the fourth set, Immaculata and Cairn traded points throughout much of the early going but it was Cairn who held a slim 14-10 lead at the midway point of the set. Cairn extended its lead to 21-14 in the late stages of the fourth set, which prompted an Immaculata timeout. Following the timeout, Cairn held on for the 25-15 fourth set victory and 3-1 victory in the match to sweep the season series against the Mighty Macs.
Garrett Pepper led the way for the Macs with 11 kills and a pair of aces in the setback while
Bryce Wiltbank led the team in blocks.
Joe Martell turned in an impressive 20-assist performance while
John Bohrer led the team in digs with 17 digs on the night.
Immaculata will be back in action on Saturday afternoon against Kean with that contest set to begin at 2 p.m.
