University Park, PA – For the first time in program history, the Golden Eagles would compete in the EIVA Conference Tournament hosted by Penn State University. As the 3^rd seed in the tournament, they would face the 6^th seed New Jersey Institute of Technology. Charleston had defeated the Highlanders in their previous weekend series back in late March with 3-1 and 3-2 victories, but in post-season play everyone is going to give their best shot. 
 
The Basics
Location: Rec Hall
Score: UC 2, NJIT 3
Records: UC (22-7, 5-5 EIVA), NJIT (9-16, 2-8 EIVA) 
 
How it Happened
The Highlanders came out to the EIVA Tournament clearly prepared, as their first set would entail a .429 hitting percentage with just one error on 21 total attacks. In a back-and-forth opening set, neither side could run away with a dominating margin due to the high-caliber attack from both teams. For reference to how close this set was, there would be eight total lead changes in the first set alone. Charleston's last lead came at 19-18 after a rare combination from Diego Villafane and Luuk Hoge Bavel. It would be Hoge Bavel assisting Villafane for the kill and the lead. The Highlanders would tie the game at 19-19 and break the pattern by finding back-to-back points to create the separation they would need to take the first set with a score of 25-23. 
 
The Highlanders would use the momentum from the opening set and carry it into the second by going on an 8-3 run before forcing a timeout from head coach Luke Reynolds. The Golden Eagles would rally to make it 10-14, but the margin would hold in the Highlanders' favor. Offensively, Charleston struggled in the set with a .074 hitting percentage with nine kills and seven errors. NJIT's percentage would also take a dive in the set, but it would remain larger than Charleston's at .250 with 11 kills. The closest that the Golden Eagles would get to the Highlanders in the set was at the 16-14 mark after three consecutive points, but NJIT would match every point Charleston would find for the remainder of the set taking a 25-20 second set win. 
 
Not very many times this season has Charleston been down two sets to none, but you just knew this team wasn't going to go down without literally swinging. After very encouraging words from assistant coach Robert Poole, the team got back to swinging soundly. Just as NJIT had done in the second, Veit Bils' kill would give Charleston a quick 8-3 lead early on. It would be the Golden Eagles maintaining the spread on the scoreboard as Lachlan Bray and Jake Vorburger would combine for nine total kills in the set and would contribute to the 25-22 third set win to put the Golden Eagles on the board. 
 
Midway through the fourth set, it looked like the Highlanders were going to cruise to a quick victory as they had worked themselves to a 14-8 lead, but Charleston would rally back to within one after five consecutive points to make it 14-13. After a short number of rallies, Jake Vorburger's kill would give Charleston the 17-16 lead after tooling it off a Highlander at the net. Lachlan Bray would put the fourth set to rest with a kill assisted by Villafane to give Charleston a 25-23 set victory and the Golden Eagles would come all the way back from two sets down to force a fifth in an electric opening quarterfinal round. 
 
You could cut the tension with a knife; both of these teams knew it was "win or go home." The Highlanders would play a very dominant fifth and final set. They would jump out to an 8-4 advantage with six kills led by Alessandro Negri with three. After the sides had changed, Charleston saw a glimpse of light after going on a 6-2 run to cut the lead to just a point in the final rallies of the match. It would be the Highlanders, however, taking the final three points of the match to secure the quarterfinal victory over the Golden Eagles by a score of 3-2. 
 
The Highlanders were led by Alessandro Negri who finished with an impressive 25 kills on a .370 hitting percentage accompanied by three service aces. Charleston's Lachlan Bray would lead the charge with 14 kills followed behind closely by Hoge Bavel with 13 and Veit Bils with 12.