CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte men's volleyball team recorded 54 digs and 12 total blocks en route to a 3-1, (25-19, 25-21, 16-25, 29-27) win over Limestone College inside Curry Arena on Thursday night.
 
The Royals (7-18) won their second straight match and split the season series with Limestone (8-18) after holding the Saints to a .111 hitting percentage in the contest. Queens currently ranks sixth overall among NCAA schools in opponent hitting percentage (.208) and is second in the NCAA with 10.34 digs per set.
 
Queens cruised to a first set win after holding Limestone to a -.172 hitting mark behind five total blocks. In the second set, the Royals tallied 22 digs as the defense led them to a four-point win and a 2-0 advantage in the match.
 
Limestone won the third set after hitting .414 and forcing Queens to hit .000, recording five total blocks of their own.
 
The fourth set of play began with the Saints building a 10-4 before Queens closed the gap to an 11-9 deficit after a service ace from freshman Aleksandar Perisic. Limestone led by as large a margin as seven points at 21-14 before Queens' Head Coach Jeremy Price called a timeout. The stoppage in action, coupled with the adjustment of putting junior Marco Vecellio and Nic Cavallaro into the lineup, sparked the Royals' fourth set comeback.
 
Queens went on a 10-2 run to eventually claim a one-point lead. Amid the run was a 12-play rally capped off by a Cavallaro kill followed by a double block from Cavallaro and fellow freshman Donovan Bethel. Freshman Tristan Santoyo gave Queens its first lead of the set with a kill, his ninth of the match.
 
The Saints retook the lead following a kill and a service before the score was knotted at 25-25 on another double block from Bethel and freshman Jack Mitchner.
 
The two sides traded points down the stretch before a Santoyo kill joined by a double block from Perisic and Vecellio ended the match with Queens on top. Santoyo registered five of his 10 total kills in the fourth set of play, while Cavallaro had all four of his kills on just six swings in the final frame.
 
Perisic led the Royals with 11 kills and a .450 hitting percentage to go along with six digs and six total blocks.

Sophomore Gregory Esquivel and graduate student Jake Dube had eight and seven kills, respectively, while Mitchner paced the offense with 38 assists. Freshman Conner Nagaki finished with 19 digs from his libero position, matching his career-high.
 
Queens hosts Erskine College tomorrow night at 7 p.m. inside the Levine Center. In a pre-match ceremony, the team will honor Dube as part of its Senior Night festivities.