CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte men's volleyball team returned to Curry Arena after nine consecutive road matches to host St. Andrews University and Alderson Broaddus University on Friday.
 
The Knights of St. Andrew took the first match of the day over Queens, followed by a win over Alderson Broaddus. The Battler of ABU concluded the evening with a three-set victory over the Royals.
 
Match One: St. Andrews 3, Queens 0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-22)
 
The opening match of the day began with St. Andrews opening on an 8-2, forcing Queen Head Men's Volleyball Coach Jeremy Price to call a timeout. The Royals responded with a run of their own, closing the gap to a three-point deficit at 15-12 following back-to-back attack errors from the Knights.
 
Queens got within two points of the SAU lead late in the set, but the Knights held on for a 25-21 win. In the second set, the Knights held a lead as large as a 13-point advantage leading to a 2-0 edge in the match.
 
Momentum remained on St. Andrews' side in the third set as the Knights jumped out to an early 5-2 lead. However, the Royals rallied to trail just 12-11 after consecutive kills from freshman Aleksandar Perisic and an SAU attack error midway through the frame. The score remained close, but St. Andrews once again survived a Queens rally and held on for the match victory.
 
Freshmen Cody Nix and Tristan Santoyo led the Royals with five kills apiece, while Perisic, junior Marco Vecellio and freshman Donovan Bethel followed with four kills each. Vecellio and freshman Conner Nagaki tallied seven digs each on defense for Queens.
 
Match Two: Alderson Broaddus 3, Queens 0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-17)
 
The Royals' offense struggled to gain any momentum in the team's second match of the day as they turned in a .089 hitting percentage in a three-set loss. In comparison, the Battlers hit .261 as a unit while committing just 12 errors.
 
The first set saw Queens get out to a 7-4 lead, highlighted by two service aces from graduate student Jake Dube and sophomore Hunter Gray. The Royals led 13-12 midway through the set before an 8-3 run put the Battlers up 20-16 as they cruised to a five-point lead.
 
Queens led early once again in the second frame until Alderson Broaddus put together a 7-1 run to build a 16-11 advantage. The Battlers remained in front, taking a 2- lead in the match.
 
In the third set, the Royals scored the first three points and laid claim to a 10-7 lead following a Dube kill. However, Alderson Broaddus rallied to take a 15-11 lead and never looked back en route to a three-set win.
 
Perisic had 10 kills in the match, followed by eight kills from Dube and seven kills by Santoyo who played the final two sets of action. Perisic and Dube tallied seven and six digs, respectively, as Nagaki also had six digs of his own.
 
The Royals hit the road for a contest with Lincoln Memorial University tomorrow at 8 p.m. in Harrogate, Tenn.