Box Score
by Kevin Buczek
WILSON, N.C.-Five kills by sophomore Jordan Robison, sophomore Zach McCalla and freshman Cameron Hudson was not enough to stop Conference Carolinas men's volleyball preseason favorite Mount Olive College from posting a straight-set victory (25-22, 25-18, 25-14) over host Barton College on Wednesday evening in Wilson Gymnasium.
The Trojans hit .353 to remain undefeated on the early season at 3-0 overall and 2-0 in the conference while spoiling the debut of Barton (0-1, 0-1) first year head coach Jeff Lennox. The second-year Bulldogs program will try and bounce back on Friday in another Conference Carolinas clash in the Dog House when Barton hosts Erskine College at 7 p.m.
Junior Angel Dache paced Mount Olive with 13 kills. Freshman Andreas Lengler and senior Adam Miracle followed with 11 and eight kills, respectively. MOC had 42 total kills and just 12 errors.
Hudson added seven digs, three assists and two blocks to his five kills in his collegiate debut for 6.5 points. McCalla matched Hudson's 6.5 points with five spikes, five digs, one ace and one block assist. Robison tallied 14 assists, five digs, five kills and one service ace.
Mount Olive constructed a 15-10 lead midway through the first half before the Bulldogs energized the home crowd with a 5-1 run to pull within one at 16-15. The rally was highlighted by consecutive kills off the arms of Hudson and McCalla. The Trojans maintained a slim edge at 20-19 before a kill by Dache and two straight aces by Lengler gave the visitors a little cushion at 23-19. Barton kept fighting but a Bulldogs service error ended the opening set.
The middle set started off as a seesaw battle with six ties and three lead changes. A kill and an ace by Robison gave Barton its last advantage at 11-9. MOC responded with the next five points to take control. The Trojans hit .423 in the second to pull ahead 2-nil.
Barton won the first point of the final frame but it proved to be the only lead for the Bulldogs. Mount Olive took the next four points to take a lead it would not relinquish. The Trojans only led 12-10 before an ensuing 7-1 surge helped Mount Olive complete the sweep.
Sophomore libero Nick Scalia had a team-high eight digs for the Bulldogs.
Robison registered a .833 (5-0-6) hitting percentage but Barton hit just .097 as a team.
"It was good to get this first match under our belts," concluded Coach Lennox. "The guys were excited to play a very good team in Mount Olive and we came out and played on a lot of emotion. They now know what level they need to play at to compete in this conference and we will keep striving for that as we get better. I expect a few guys to really step up now and along with that our offense will improve."
