WILSON, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte men's volleyball went all five sets with defending Conference Carolinas co-champion Barton College, falling 3-2 (25-20, 21-25, 18-25, 25-19, 15-10) inside Wilson Gym on Wednesday night.
 
The Royals (2-3) hit .286 on offense and totaled a season-high 10 bocks, but the Bulldogs (1-0) registered a .323 hitting performance on 65 total kills.
 
Barton hit .429 in the opening set of action, taking an early 14-10 lead to force a Queens timeout. The lead grew as large as six points, 21-15, before the Royals rallied off three straight points to cut the deficit in half. However, the lead was too much to overcome as Barton went ahead 1-0 in the match.
 
Queens took control in the second and third sets, hitting a combined .384 as a team to gain a 2-1 edge in the match. However, the Bulldogs responded with a win in the fourth frame to force a deciding fifth set.
 
The fifth and final set featured five ties and four lead changes as the two sides traded points until a 6-2 run midway through the frame put Barton ahead 11-8. Following a Royals' timeout, Barton scored four of the final five points to put the match away.
 
Junior outside Tristan Santoyo set a new career-high for the second straight match finishing with 28 kills while hitting .436 to go along with seven digs and three service aces.
 
Fellow junior Cody Nix had eight kills and nine total blocks in the middle, while freshman setter Brandon Grabow dished out 44 assists. Liberos Ruben Greenstein and Guillermo Jordan tallied eight and seven digs, respectively.
 
The Royals return home for their next match on Saturday, January 25 when they host Limestone College at 4 p.m. inside Curry Arena.