CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte men's volleyball team opened postseason play on Friday afternoon with a 3-0 (28-26, 25-18, 25-22) sweep of Limestone University in the Independent Volleyball Association Championship Semifinals inside Curry Arena.
 
Queens, the tournaments No. 2 seed, hit .225 in the match while holding Limestone, the third-overall seed, to a .137 hitting mark in the victory.
 
After the opening set went to extra points, the Royals outhit the Saints .294 to .071 in the second set to take a 2-0 match lead. In the third, Queens led 7-3 following a kill form Nic Cavallaro before Limestone rallied for three unanswered point to cut the deficit to just one point.
 
Back-to-back unforced errors by the Saints put Queens back ahead by three as Limestone was unable to get any closer that a two-point deficit until they trailed 18-17 late in the frame. Queens scored seven of the next 12 points, ending the match on a kill from Stirling Sims to advance to the finals.
 
Sims hit .818 in the match with nine kills from the middle, while Josh Bragg led the Royals with 11 kills and nine digs from the outside. JP Payne, the 2021 OTB Independent Teams Player of the Year, finished with six kills and .308 hitting mark and setter Daniel Leitao registered 39 assists and eight digs.
 
Queens will face the winner of the second semifinal match between top-seeded Lincoln Memorial University and fourth-seeded Tusculum University on Saturday at 4 p.m.