CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte men's volleyball team hosted University of Mount Olive on Tuesday night, but fell 3-1 (25-23, 20-25, 2512, 25-20) in the Levine Center.
 
The Trojans (1-2), the Conference Carolinas Tournament runner-up a season ago, collected their first win of the season behind 10 team service aces and a match-high 19 kills from senior Robert Poole.
 
Queens (1-2) had a balanced offensive attack once again, led by 10 kills from junior Marco Vecellio. Graduate student Jake Dube followed with eight kills and seven digs, while freshman Tristan Santoyo had eight kills of his own to go along with 12 digs on defense.
 
The Royals defense, ranked fifth overall among NCAA institutions in opponent's hitting percentage, held the Trojans to a .101 hitting percentage across the first two sets. In the second set alone, Queens forced UMO to hit just .030, while turning in a .258 hitting percentage of its own to secure the set win.
 
Mount Olive found its offense in the third set, hitting .379 as a unit with only one attack error to roll to a 13-point set win. The fourth set of play saw eight ties on the scoreboard and four lead changes early on before three unaswerd points put the Trojans ahead 12-9.
 
A Trojan attack error and a kill from Dube helped Queens close the gap to a one-point deficit at 17-16, but another 3-0 run for Mount Olive helped them pull away for the eventual victory.
 
Freshman Jack Mitchner paced the Queens' offense with 27 assists, while fellow freshman Conner Nagaki led the team with 13 digs.
 
The Royals remain in Charlotte for the final match of a three-match homestand to host Coker College on Friday, January 19 at 7 p.m. in Curry Arena.