Box Score by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C. – The Barton College men's volleyball team never trailed in claiming a straight-set Conference Carolinas victory over visiting Belmont Abbey College Friday night at Wilson Gymnasium, 25-19, 25-20, 25-21.
The win was the fourth in a row in league play for the Bulldogs, now 10-15 overall and an even 6-6 in the conference.
Junior Zach McCalla had a match-high 16 kills for Barton. Freshmen Jonathan Novoa-Miralles and Chad Stanback Jr. each added eight kills, with junior Ladislav Lelkes chipping in seven and senior Tyler Malpass contributing five. Freshman Federico Pagliara pushed up 37 assists and junior Mike McMahon collected a match-high 13 digs.
Belmont Abbey (3-23, 1-11) was paced by Dale Hunsicker and Brennan Beyner, who each had five kills. The Crusaders produced just 21 kills as a team after hitting .130 for the match. Barton's defense played a role as well, as the Bulldogs collected 40 digs as a team.
Outside of three ties at the beginning of the first two sets, Barton led throughout. Knotted at 2-all in the first frame, a kill by Malpass started a four-point run, and the Crusaders never got closer than three points the rest of the way. Belmont Abbey did manage to cut a six-point cushion by the Bulldogs in half at 20-17, but Malpass had two more kills in the late stages to keep the Crusaders at bay.
Barton jumped out to another 6-2 advantage to start the second set, and after Belmont Abbey trimmed the deficit to two at 9-7, the Bulldogs went on an 8-3 spurt to pull away to a seven-point lead. McCalla had all four of his kills in the set during the run.
However, Belmont Abbey's Beyner delivered three straight blocks, two of them with the help of Derek Sullivan, during a stretch of five straight attack errors by the Bulldogs that helped the Crusaders close within a single point at 17-16. The two sides then traded kills before Barton used a 3-0 spurt to pull away again.
The Bulldogs claimed the first two points of the third set and led throughout, although Belmont Abbey pulled within a point on four occasions, the final time at 9-8. Barton used consecutive kills by McCalla and a service ace by Pagliara to move back in front by four, but the Crusaders battled back to within two on four occasions, the last of those at 21-19 on a Beyner kill. However, the two sides traded points the rest of the way, with a kill by Stanback finishing off the match.
Barton hit .255 in the match as a team, with Novoa-Miralles and Malpass both hitting over .400.
The Bulldogs will host rival University of Mount Olive on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
