LANGHORNE, Pa. – The Neumann University men's volleyball team fell in a hard fought five set match at Carin University, 3-2, on Thursday evening.
 
Cairn won the first, third and fifth sets by scores of 25-21, 25-12 and 18-16. Neumann won sets two and four by 25-22 and 25-20 scores.
 
Josiah Melendez tallied 13 kills to lead the Knights. Jules Maiorano handed out 28 assists. Brandon Baskerville led four Knights in double-digit digs with 21. Melendez tallied 15 digs. Maiorano notched 13 and TJ McConnell added 11.
 
The first set went back and forth to start until the Highlanders took a 14-12 deficit and scored nine of the next 10 points to take a 21-15 advantage. The Knights got back to within two, 23-21, but Cairn was able to capitalize on some errors to get the next two points and the 25-21 set one win.
 
Leading 10-8 in set two, the Knights scored six straight points for a 16-8 lead. With a score of 19-13, the Highlanders made a run and tallied nine of the 10 points to take a 22-20 lead. Neumann then netted five straight points, capped on a McConnell kill for a 25-22 set two win and a match tied at one.
 
Cairn held the pace in the third set and won 25-12 to take a 2-1 edge in the match.
 
The teams battled in the fourth set. Tied at 18, the Knights rattled off four points for a 22-18 lead. Neumann was able to get three points and the 25-20 win and tie the match at two.
 
Set five was much like most of the match as the teams traded points. A Melendez kill put the Knights up 14-13, but they could not get the next point and the match kept going. The teams traded points until the Highlanders took the fifth and final set 18-16.
 
Neumann (6-7) will head to Lehman College on Saturday for a tri-match with Drew. The Knights will face Drew at 12:00 PM, followed by Lehman at 2:00 PM.