Box Score
by Kevin Buczek
WILSON, N.C.-Barton College sophomore libero Nick Scalia made a season-high 15 digs in a 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-14) Conference Carolinas men's volleyball loss for Belmont Abbey College on Friday evening in Wilson Gymnasium.
All six Crusader starters recorded at least five kills as the Abbey improved to 5-5 overall and 2-5 in the league. The Bulldogs remain winless at 0-6 and 0-5.
Sophomore hitter Zach McCalla led Barton with 11 kills. McCalla has posted double digit spikes in three of the Bulldogs six matches. Sophomore blocker Ladislav Lelkes followed with five kills, two solo blocks and BC's only service ace. Classmate Brennan O'Connor added four kills and five digs in his first appearance of the season after battling injury.
The Bulldogs raced out to a 9-3 lead in the first set. Three of Lelkes five kills came in the opening surge. Belmont Abbey rallied with a 7-1 run to tie the set for the first time at 10-all before breaking away from a 13-13 tie with another 7-1 outburst to pull out to a 20-14 advantage. The Crusaders rode the momentum to the eight-point win.
Barton held early leads in both the second and third sets but the visitors took control of the final two periods pretty early. The Abbey led 11-4 in the middle stanza and 8-2 in the final frame and never relinquished either lead.
The Crusaders hit .228 for the match. Freshman Dustin Buell led the Abbey attack with eight kills on 12 attempts with only one error (.583 hitting percentage). Freshman Griffin O'Camb also tallied eight kills but he took 23 swings. Freshman Evan Young scooped up a season-high 13 digs to go along with seven kills while O'Camb lifted up 10 digs. Sophomore Nolan Albrecht and freshman Derek Sullivan set up the Crusaders offense with 22 and 12 assists, respectively, while both logging six spikes. Freshman Antony Koyfman tallied a match-high five block assists.
Sophomore Jordan Robison totaled 21 assists and six digs for the Royal Blue and White. Sophomore Chandler Thomas chipped in seven digs. Both Robison and Thomas had three kills.
The Bulldogs only hit at a .028 clip.
Barton will journey out to Arizona for four matches at Grand Canyon University (Phoenix) next weekend playing the host 'Lopes and Concordia University Irvine (Calif.) both Friday and Saturday, Feb. 15-16.
