WILSON, N.C. – For the seventh time this season, the Queens University of Charlotte men's volleyball team needed all five sets to decide an outcome. On Wednesday night, Queens suffered a 3-2 (22-25, 25-20, 27-29, 25-23, 15-13) loss to Barton College inside Wilson Gymnasium.
The Royals (4-8) hit .271 in the match while collected eight service aces and 13 total blocks. Barton (4-2) overcome its serve receive struggles with a .307 hitting mark in the match.
Queens opened the match with a three-point win in the first set, outhitting the Bulldogs .258 to .125 to gain the early match lead. After Barton responded with a win in the second frame, the Royals used extra points to claim a 29-27 victory in the third and go ahead 2-1 overall.
Barton had set point on three separate occasions in the third set of action, but the Royals ended the frame with three consecutive points including kills from seniors
Tristan Santoyo and
JP Payne a set-ending service ace from Santoyo.
In the fourth set, Barton rebounded from an early 8-3 deficit to eventually claim a 17-15 advantage that the Bulldogs held onto in forcing a deciding fifth set of play. Queens opened the final set on a tear, leading 10-4 before the Bulldogs rallied to tie the set at 11-all before ending the match with four unanswered points to earn the home victory.
Four different Royals had double-digit kills for the balance offensive attack led by 13 kills apiece from Payne and Santoyo. Payne hit a blistering .667 from the middle, while Santoyo turned in a .323 hitting performance with six digs on defense.
Sophomore
Jack Brinkman had 12 kills and four total service aces, wile senior
Nic Cavallaro had 12 kills of his own and eight digs. Sophomore setter
Brandon Grabow paced the offense with 52 assists, his second match this season with more than 50 helpers, while freshman Striling sims had seven kills and seven total blocks in the middle.
Queens brief two-game road trip concludes on Saturday when the team travels to Banner Elk, N.C. for a match against Lees-McRae College at 3 p.m.
