Providence, RI - The men's volleyball team opened their 2015 season at the Johnson & Wales Tip-Off Tournament in Rhode Island this weekend. The men faced off against the hosts, Lasell College, Purchase College, and Lesley University. Also in attendance at the tournament was Keuka College but they did not play Cairn.

Cairn opened on Friday evening with Lasell, where the Lasers won in three sets (14-25, 23-25, 22-25). Josiah Buss led the team with 13 kills, while Alex Lower had 30 assists. Lower joined two other members of the team as freshman for this season. 

Last year, Cairn went 10-16 overall and 1-9 in the CVC. For Lasell, this is also their opening matches of the season. Last year the Lasers ended 20-11 for the season and 8-8 in the GNAC. Jeffrey Vautrin led the team for the Lasers with 16 kills. Lasell had already defeated Lesley before they faced Cairn, 3-0. 

Shortly after the game with the Lasers, the Highlanders took the court against the host Wildcats and suffered a similar loss as the previous game. Johnson & Wales took the match 3-0 (14-25, 22-25, 22-25) but Cairn improved after the opening set. 

Randall Colson led the team with 11 kills and was followed by Micah Godshall with nine. Colson committed just two hitting errors for a .600 percentage in the match. Lower once again hit the 30-assist mark with 32. 

Both teams improved hitting percentages as the match wore on, with Cairn leading the way in the third set with 16 kills against Johson & Wales' 14. However, the Wildcats committted just two errors in the final set to hold the advanteage over the Highlanders. 

On Satuday morning, the Highlanders took on the Panthers of Purchase College and faired much better than the previous day. The Panthers gave the Highlanders trouble in the first set but Cairn pulled out the win 27-25. Cairn then went on to win the next two sets 25-17 and 25-14. 

Josiah Buss led the team in kills with seven against the Panthers and was followed by Andy Willits with six. David Dager also hit well, putting down five kills with no errors. Lower finished the match with 27 assists. Defensively, Matthew Rhodes collected nine digs.

Cairn started Saturday afternoon with their final match of the tournament against Lesley University and took care of business. The Highlanders finished off the Lynx quickly with a 3-0 score. Buss continued his strong play and led the team with 15 kills. 

Micah Godshall and Randal Colson also hit well with 10 and nine kills, respectively. Alex Lower finished the match with 37 assists as the setter. Leading the Lynx in attacking was Tyler Burns with 10 kills.

In total, Cairn finished the tournament with a 2-2 record and Buss led the team with 40 kills. Randall Colson and Micah Godshall finished with impressive attacking percentages of .434 and  .353, respectively. Alex Lower ended the two-day affair with 126 assists. Colson was also nominated to the All-Tournament team; a full list of the team is below.

The Highlanders will next travel to Hoboken, N.J., to take on Stevens Tech on Wednesday, Jan. 28, for a 7 p.m. match. 
 

All-Tournament Team

Jeff Vautrin - Lasell - Most Outstanding Player

Dan Raffol – Lasell

Kyle Eva – Johnson & Wales

Tim Jackson – Keuka

Randall Colson – Cairn

Kevin Carges – Purchase

Tyler Burns - Lesley