CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In the final event of Queens University of Charlotte Homecoming Weekend, the men's volleyball team hosted Saint Francis University inside Curry Arena on Sunday afternoon. The Royals hit a season-high .330 on offense but fell 3-1 (25-22, 21-25, 25-16, 25-17) to the Red Flash.
Saint Francis (6-5) combated the Royals offensive output with a .383 hitting clip and registered seven total service aces. Red Flash outside Michael Fisher led all players with a game-high 24 kills and hit .475 at the net.
The opening set of action saw the two sides play to seven total ties on the scoreboard, with the final time coming at 11-all on a
Tristan Santoyo kill. However, Saint Francis used three unanswered points to open up a lead that the team never gave away.
Queens responded in a big way in set two, taking an early 9-4 lead thanks in large part to six straight points that included kills from sophomore
Nic Cavallaro and
Cody Nix. The advantage grew to as large as a seven-point margin at 15-8 after another Santoyo kill as Cavallaro ended the set with his seventh kill of the frame to tie the match.
The Red Flash gained control of the third set in the beginning and went ahead before surviving a back-and-forth affair in the fourth set to come away with the road win. The final set of play saw eight ties and four lead changes as the Saint Francis defense held Queens to a .043 hitting mark with four total blocks.
Cavallaro led the Royals with 13 kills and a .379 hitting mark, while Santoyo hit .321 with 12 kills and six digs.
Sophomore
JP Payne had six kills and hit .385 in the middle and senior
Alexander Schinzing narrowly missed a double-double with 33 assists and nine digs from his setter position. Sophomore
Ruben Greenstein registered a match-high 10 digs on the back row and also chipped in three assists.
Queens returns to competition next weekend as the team travels to West Virginia for back-to-back matches against University of Charleston on Friday night and Alderson Broaddus University on Saturday afternoon.
