by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C. – A new season in the continuing rivalry between Barton College and the University of Mount Olive gets underway Tuesday night when the two sides square off in women's volleyball.
Match time is 7 p.m. in Wilson Gym. Admission is $5.
Barton sports information will provide live stats and video of Tuesday's match.
Barton volleyball fans can follow the Lady Bulldogs all season at www.BartonBulldogs.com and via social media including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Barton College Women's Volleyball
The Lady Bulldogs enter the contest with a mark of 4-9 overall and 2-2 in conference play. Barton is tied for sixth overall and tied for third in the Conference Carolinas' North Division, one game behind division front-runners Lees-McRae College and King University.
Barton split two matches in a weekend road trip, falling to two-time defending league champion Belmont Abbey College in straight sets before downing Pfeiffer University in a five-set thriller.
Sophomore transfer Shae Schmidt led the Lady Bulldogs in kills in both matches, including a season-high 14 as part of her first BC double-double (10 digs) in the win over the Falcons. Senior Melissa Cochran added 13 kills and seven blocks in the victory, while senior Amanda Grandy collected 23 digs and freshman Riley Bane produced a double-double of 43 assists and 17 digs.
For the season, Cochran remains among the league's offensive leaders. The middle blocker from Knightdale, N.C., ranks second in the conference in attack percentage (.341), third in blocks per set (0.93) and sixth in kills per set (3.26). Two other Barton players, sophomore Kaitlyn Micol and Schmidt, are both producing more than two kills per frame.
Grandy is averaging 4.37 digs per set as the libero, second-best in the conference, and is also delivering 0.43 service aces per set, sixth-best in the league. Freshman Riley Bane is producing 8.15 assists per set, fifth-best in the conference, and is also contributing 2.67 digs per frame.
As a team, Barton is ninth in the 12-team Conference Carolinas in kills per set (10.2) and eighth in attack percentage (.134). The team's highest ranking is in blocks (3rd), where the Lady Bulldogs are producing 1.64 per set.
Barton and Mount Olive have split their previous four meetings during the tenure of BC's third-year head coach, Jeff Lennox. The Trojans claimed both of last year's contests (3-1 at home; 3-2 in Wilson), but Barton won both 2012 matchups in straight sets. Ironically, 2012 was also the last time the league used divisional play.
University of Mount Olive Women's Volleyball
The Trojans are currently 4-10 overall and 1-3 in the conference. UMO is tenth overall and fifth in the North Division, one game behind Barton and two games out of first place.
Mount Olive ended a six-match losing streak last week with consecutive road wins at Saint Augustine's University and Pfeiffer University, but then dropped its most recent match in straight sets at Belmont Abbey.
Freshman Britni Johnson leads the Trojans with 2.43 kills and 2.59 digs per set. Senior Sarah Robertson is next offensively with 1.85 kills per set, and four other players are averaging better than 1.5 kills per frame for UMO's well-balanced lineup. One of those four, senior Dezirae Mackey, ranks among the league leaders in attack percentage (.310, 6th).
Mount Olive is a reflection of its first-year head coach, Colby Mangum, a former standout middle blocker for the Trojans who remains the school's all-time career leader in blocks. Her team ranks first in the conference in blocks (2.07 per set), led by sophomore Montgomery Register (1st at 1.06 per set) and Mackey (4th at 0.89 per frame).
While the Trojans lead that category, they stand last in the league in several others, including attack percentage (.117), service aces (1.2) and digs (12.6).
The two players who produced the majority of the offense for Mount Olive in its two wins over Barton last year – outside hitter Lauren Lee and all-conference middle blocker Carly White – both graduated. The Trojans did get 10 kills in their home win from Sarah Watkins, who was a freshman at the time. UMO has just two seniors on its 2014 roster and 10 freshmen.
