Box Score by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C. – Freshman Jonathan Novoa-Miralles, making his first start in six matches, produced a season-high 13 kills and added three aces, including one on match point, as the Barton College men's volleyball team edged Lees-McRae College in five sets – 25-15, 18-25, 25-21, 19-25, 17-15 – Saturday afternoon in the Dog House.
Junior Zach McCalla followed up his school-record 25 kills on Friday night with a 20-kill performance for the Bulldogs, who improved to 3-7 overall and 2-5 in Conference Carolinas play. McCalla also contributed six blocks, junior Michael McMahon chipped in a match-high 17 digs, and freshman Federico Pagliara recorded 40 assists.
Lees-McRae (5-4, 1-2), which played the match without one of the best players in the conference, Brady Markle, received a match-high 21 kills from senior Matt Harpenau. Another senior, Sam Sheers, added 11 kills, while Randy Ramirez posted a match-high 41 assists and Efrain Negron delivered 11 digs.
Novoa-Miralles, who came into the match with 18 kills for the season over 14 sets, had four kills in the tiebreaking set alone. McCalla added three in the decisive frame, which the Bulldogs won despite hitting just .048 to LMC's .211.
Barton, playing its fourth consecutive five-set match in league play, opened up a three-point advantage at 8-5 in the final frame on an LMC miscue and consecutive kills from Novoa-Miralles, but Lees-McRae gradually worked its way back into a tie at 12-all.
The Bulldogs let a match point slip away at 14-13 when John Lucas and Mark Shayka blocked an attack by Ladislav Lelkes. Ramirez followed with a block of Novoa-Miralles' attack, putting the Bobcats on match point.
However, after a Barton timeout, Novoa-Miralles responded with a kill to tie the match again at 15-all, and a kill by McCalla put the Bulldogs once again just one point from victory. It came on the serve from Novoa-Miralles, which clipped the top of the net but fell on the Bobcats' side in front of a diving attempt by Negron.
Except for the one match point for Lees-McRae, Barton stayed one step ahead of the Bobcats for most of the match. The Bulldogs took the opening set, 25-15, behind four kills each from McCalla and Novoa-Miralles. Barton broke a 9-all tie in the frame with a 6-1 run that included a kill from Tanner Medina and two from Novoa-Miralles. The Bulldogs hit .455 in the set while the Bobcats hit in the negative (-.040).
Led by Harpenau, who dominated the second set with five kills, Lees-McRae rallied to tie the match by winning the frame, 25-18. Just like the first set, the frame was tied 9-all when the decisive run was made, this time by the Bobcats. A kill by Harpenau put Sheers on the service line with a 10-9 lead, and Sheers rolled off three service aces in helping LMC pull out to a 16-10 advantage.
Enjoying a one-point lead at 9-8 in set three, Barton went on an 8-2 run to open up a seemingly comfortable seven-point advantage. A pair of blocks, both involving Medina, started the spurt for the Bulldogs. Still trailing by six points late at 23-17, the Bobcats rallied as close as three points at 24-21 on a kill by Kevin Morrison, but an LMC service error handed Barton the set win. McCalla had six kills in the frame for Barton and Harpenau produced five for the Bobcats.
However, Lees-McRae would not go out quietly. Leading by one point at 8-7 in set four, a kill by Harpenau began a run of four straight points that put the Bobcats up by five, 12-7. The LMC lead was at six, 16-10, when Barton went on a 6-1 run, capped by consecutive blocks from Lelkes and McCalla, that pulled the Bulldogs within one, 17-16.
Barton still trailed by just one at 19-18 following a McCalla kill when Lees-McRae won four straight points – three on spikes by Morrison, Harpenau and Sheers, and the fourth on a triple block – to go back up by five and effectively put away the set away for the Bobcats, forcing the decisive tiebreaker.
Lees-McRae had won its two previous five-set matches of the year, while Barton had a 1-2 record in five-set matches, including consecutive setbacks in their most recent two, but the Bulldogs prevailed for their first win in program history against the Bobcats in five attempts.
The match ended a two-game home stand for the Bulldogs, which will hit the road for their next four contests, beginning Wednesday night at former conference member Coker College.
