LANGHORNE, Pa. - The Wilson College men's volleyball team closed out their regular season portion with a Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) match against the hosting Highlanders of Cairn University earlier this afternoon. The Phoenix (6-13, 4-6 CSAC) were taken down by the Defenders (14-4, 8-0 CSAC) by a match score of 3-0, with set scores of 25-12, 25-18, and 25-13.
How It Happened: Wilson started on a 3-1 run with points coming from senior
Shae Cardenas (Torrance, CA., West Los Angeles CC) and sophomore
Saria Alshaikhali (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Hayfield High School). Shortly after,
Cardenas strung together points that tied the match up at six. This sparked a 9-3 run from Cairn that put the Highlanders in front, 15-9, before sophomore
Ian Ruiz (Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, Colegio y Noviciado Santa Maria del Camino) ended the run with a kill, set up by senior
Andrew Hetzer (Chambersburg, PA., Cumberland Valley Christian). Cairn went on to take set one by a score of 25-12. In the second set, Wilson jumped out to a 5-3 lead with points coming from senior
Eric Holz (Williamsport, PA., Loyalsock Township) off a kill and an ace. Later on in the set, after the Highlanders took a 15-7 lead, the Phoenix started to slowly chip away at the lead. But the early deficit proved to be too much as they dropped this set to a score of 25-18. Wilson kept things close early on in set number three, but six unanswered points from Cairn put the Highlanders in front, 9-2. Wilson continued to roll as
Alshaikhali,
Cardenas, and
Hetzer gathered points for the Phoenix. Despite the effort, Wilson fell in the third set, 25-13.
Inside the Box Score: Alshaikhali and
Cardenas paced the offense with six kills apiece, while freshman
Jackson Cordell (Waynesboro, PA, Waynesboro Area Senior H.S.) tallied two.
Alshaikhali went on to add six digs, two aces, two assists, and two blocks, while
Cardenas notched nine digs and one ace.
Hetzer dished out 15 assists, two blocks, and one ace, and junior
Noah Wickenheiser (Cresco, PA, Notre Dame) added eight digs. The Phoenix scored 18 kills on 82 attempts against 19 errors.
Up Next: Having clinched a spot in the CSAC Men's Volleyball Championship, Wilson will get set for opening round action starting Tuesday, April 5.
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