CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Queens University of Charlotte men's volleyball team closed out their season with a convincing sweep over the Limestone Saints to claim third place in the 2022 IVA Championships. With the victory, the Royals finish the season 18-12 and complete the season sweep over the Saints. Queens set a new single game program record in the victory with 11 service aces breaking the previous record set back in 2019.
 
The afternoon opened tightly contested as the Royals held a slim 10-8 lead early. Queens would use a lengthy 6-1 run in the middle of the set to grab a commanding 16-9 lead. The Royals would close out the set 25-17 to gain an early advantage in the match. Daniel Leitao led the Royals after the first set with four kills while senior JP Payne added three kills. The Royals hit .381 with 12 kills and four service aces in the first while the Saints hit .136 with nine kills and six attack errors.
 
The second set saw eight ties throughout the set with most of the ties coming early in the set. Trailing 14-9, the Royals used a 5-0 run to regain a 14-10 lead before the Saints would chip away at the lead. Queens managed to close the set on another 5-0 run to claim the second 25-17 taking a 2-0 lead. Queens hit .476 with 13 kills in the second while Limestone hit .130 with seven attack errors.
 
Limestone opened the third set grabbing a quick 6-0 advantage looking to stay alive with a victory. The Saints would extend their lead to 9-2 before the Royals responded with a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to 9-7. All tied 12-12, went on another 6-2 rally to grab a convincing 18-14 lead forcing a Limestone timeout. The offenses would exchange points before senior JP Payne capped off his collegiate career with an ace to give the Royals a 25-23 win.
 
For the match, the Royals hit .297 as a team with 35 kills while the Saints hit .125 with 31 kills as a team. The Royals were incredibly efficient from the service line tallying 11 aces setting a new single game program record. Jack Brinkman led the Royals on the line with four aces while also recording a game-high 11 kills. Ananias Hayes was also effective from the line earning three aces. Daniel Leitao earned his 17^th double digit kill performance with 10 in the victory. Brandon Grabow facilitated the attack dishing out 26 assists.

At the conclusion of the tournament, JP Payne and Daniel Leitao were named to the All-Tournament team. Payne recorded 22 kills across three matches while working very efficiently on the attack hitting .586 for the tournament. Leitao posted 26 kills on the weekend, including 15 against Daemen while hitting .334 in three matches and tallying 19 assists in the final match.
 
Be sure to follow the Royals men's volleyball program on Instagram to stay up to date on all the latest news and updates surrounding the team in the offseason. Fans are also encouraged to follow Queens Athletics on social media @QueensAthletics to follow all of the Royals sports in action.