CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In the second game of a three-game homestand to open the 2019 season, the Queens University of Charlotte men's volleyball team fell 3-1 (25-17, 25-23, 24-26, 25-16) to North Greenville University on Wednesday night inside Curry Arena.
 
Queens (0-2) held an early lead at 7-4 in the first set of play, however, North Greenville (1-2) eventually tied the set at 10-all before seven unanswered points gave the Crusaders a 17-10 advantage they never relinquished.
 
The second set saw North Greenville hit .375 as a team in claiming a two-point win before opening the third set with five straight points. The Royals battled back to tie the frame at 13-all on back-to-back Crusader errors before two more NGU errors and a kill from sophomore Nic Cavallaro put Queens ahead 16-14.
 
North Greenville took a late lead at 24-23, forcing Queens to take a timeout. The break in action resulted in a Crusader service error that tied the set before a Josh Bragg service ace and Cody Nix kill gave Queens the set victory.
 
The Crusaders controlled the fourth and final set of play, hitting .345 as a team and holding Queens to a -.029 mark to pick up their first win of the season. NGU was led by junior Jackson Gilbert who filled the stat sheet with 18 kills (.262) and 14 digs to go along with three total blocks.
 
Cavallaro led the Royals with 13 kills and 11 digs for his second career double-double performance. Sophomore Tristan Santoyo had nine kills and seven digs, while Nix followed with seven kills and five total blocks from the middle.
 
Graduate transfer Alexander Schinzing guided the team with 36 assists to go along with seven digs and three total blocks and sophomore libero Ruben Greenstein chipped in a career-high 15 digs.
 
Queens continues its homestand on Saturday, January 12 when it hosts Purdue Fort Wayne at 7:30 p.m.