Box Score by Kevin Buczek
DUE WEST, S.C.-Barton College junior Zach McCalla and freshmen Jonathan Novoa-Miralles and Chad Stanback Jr. all had eight kills in a 3-0 Conference Carolinas men's volleyball road loss to Erskine College on Friday evening in Belk Arena.
The Flying Fleet hit a season-high .468 and received a match-high 16 kills on 25 swings by sophomore Michael Michelau to produce the straight set victory by scores of 25-14, 25-23 and 25-16.
Erskine remained the lone undefeated team in league competition at 4-0 while leveling its overall ledger to 4-4. Barton had its best hitting percentage of the season as well at .222 but still produced 20 less kills than the Fleet in slipping to 3-8 overall and 2-6 in the conference.
Novoa-Miralles' eight kills were the most impressive of the three Bulldogs attackers because he only committed one error to finish with a season-best .368 hitting percentage.
Freshman Federico Pagliara pushed up 23 assists and junior Michael McMahan made a match-high eight digs. However, BC's two blocks were its lowest output of the campaign.
A Novoa-Miralles spike kept Barton close to Erskine early in the first set at 9-7 but the Fleet flew away with an ensuing 10-1 run that featured two kills and two aces by freshman Roberto Perez Vargas. EC put away 11 of 17 tries for a staggering .588 hitting percentage to complete the 11-point win.
The second set remained close throughout with neither team gaining more than three point edge. Barton was closing in on leveling the match with a late 21-19 lead but Erskine knotted the middle period on consecutive spikes by sophomore Mike Kawa and Michelau. The Fleet would take leads at 22-21 and 23-22 but the Bulldogs tied the set for a ninth and 10th time on kills by McCalla and Stanback. However, EC responded with two more kills off the arms of sophomore Omar Melendez and Michelau to take the commanding 2-0 set advantage.
The Fleet kept the momentum in the third and never trailed. After successfully siding out each other's first two serves, Erskine pulled ahead for good with an 8-3 explosion to double up the Bulldogs 10-5. BC got to within four points twice on a pair of spikes by Stanback and Novoa-Miralles but the Flying Fleet closed the match on a 10-5 run.
Erskine finished with 46 kills in just three sets and was led by Michelau (16 kills), Perez Vargas (9), Melendez (8) and Kawa (7). Sophomore setter Corey Marks supplied 40 assists. Michelau and junior Nathan Camnitz each tallied seven digs to pace the Fleet defense.
Barton will try and bounce back on Saturday in a Conference Carolinas road encounter with Limestone College at 4 p.m.
