Box Score
by Kevin Buczek
BANNER ELK, N.C.-Three Bulldogs had six or more kills for visiting Barton College in a 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-16) Conference Carolinas road loss at Lees-McRae College on Friday afternoon in Williams Gymnasium.
Junior Jose Ribas made a match-high 11 kills and the Bobcats offense attacked with an incredible .447 hitting percentage to improve to 13-6 overall and 8-6 in the league. Classmate John Lucas filled up the box score with nine kills, nine digs and seven combined blocks.
Sophomore Zach McCalla and freshman Cameron Hudson led the Bulldogs with eight spikes apiece. Sophomore Brennan O'Connor added six kills while the sophomore trio of Tanner Medina, Jordan Robison and Ladislav Lelkes all chipped in three kills.
Hudson and sophomore Nick Scalia both produced five digs and Robison registered 26 assists. Medina led the Royal Blue and White with three combined blocks.
The Bulldogs (1-16 Overall, 1-10 Conf.), who took the Bobcats to five sets in the two squad's first meeting on Jan. 25, once again played the well-established program closely. The first set featured 17 ties and five lead changes. Barton led as late as 21-20 but the hosts rattled off the next five points to take the opening frame.
O'Connor had three of his six kills in the first set.
The middle stanza saw a similar fate with 16 ties and six lead changes before Lees-McRae broke a 20-20 deadlock with a 5-1 run to take the commanding 2-nil advantage. The hosts hit .517 in the period with sophomore Joshua Jones tallying five of his nine spikes.
The Bobcats had a more comfortable win in the third to close out the match. Barton only trailed by one at 11-10 before Lees-McRae extended its lead to 18-11 with a 7-1 outburst before coasting to the nine-point win. Lees-McRae fired at a .414 clip in the third to keep the Bulldogs at bay even though Hudson blasted five kills on seven attempts in the set.
Junior Randy Ramirez set up the Bobcats offense with a match-high 39 assists while serving up half of Lees-McRae's four aces.
The Bulldogs hit .171 for the match and only made 18 digs compared to 28 by LMC.
Barton next hosts league foe Limestone College on Friday at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs lone victory came against the Saints on Feb. 24 in Gaffney, S.C.
