Senior Nic Cavallaro returned to the starting lineup after missing more than two weeks due to injury and recorded a double-double of 21 kills and 12 digs in leading Ty Hurdle and his Queens University of Charlotte Men's Volleyball teammates a 3-2 (15-25, 25-22, 25-19, 22-25, 17-15) victory over Emmanuel College (Ga.) inside Curry Arena.
Cavallaro hit .390 on the outside as Queens hit .248 as a team, including hitting over the .300 mark in the final three sets of the night. Queens combated 11 total blocks from Emmanuel (0-4) with seven service aces, including two from sophomore Jack Brinkman.
After a slow start in the opening set, Queens rebounded with wins in both the second and third sets of action to take a 2-1 match lead.
Queens looked to close things out in the fourth set, holding an 11-7 lead following a Brinkman kill clung to a 20-18 advantage after senior Tristan Santoyo placed a ball over the top of the Emmanuel block. However, the Lions scored four unanswered points to take a 22-20 lead, taking advantage of a Queen's service error to close out the match and force a deciding fifth set.
The fifth set of plays featured eight total ties, including the final one at 15-all, before a Cavallaro kills and a double block by Cavallaro and fellow senior JP Payne sealed the win for Queens. In total, the match featured 31 total ties and 10 lead changes in the back-and-forth affair.
Brinkman totaled 14 kills and nine digs for Queens, while Payne had 10 kills and hit .480 from the middle. Freshman middle Stirling Sims had nine kills and a .400 hitting performance as sophomore setter Brandon Grabow finished with 48 assists. Senior Ruben Greenstein led all players with 14 digs on defense.
