Box Score by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C. – Barton College picked up its second Conference Carolinas men's volleyball victory in as many days after defeating North Greenville University in straight sets, 25-9, 25-22, 25-21, Saturday afternoon at Wilson Gymnasium.
The Bulldogs produced a .333 attack percentage in the match, the best hitting performance in the program's four-year history. The previous high had been .327, recorded in a straight-set win last season at McKendree University.
With the victory, Barton improved to 2-2 overall and 2-1 in league play. The loss left the Crusaders, in their first season of men's volleyball competition, 0-5 overall and 0-3 in the conference.
Jonathan Novoa-Miralles had 10 kills and hit .529 in the match to pace the Royal Blue and White. The sophomore from Miami, Fla., has led the Bulldogs in kills in every match this year while reaching double-figures each time.
Senior Nick Scalia, who came into the match with three career service aces, produced five against the Crusaders, including two at a critical point of the second set. BC also received six block assists from freshman Michael Perez in addition to five kills.
Curtis Westra, one of 11 freshman on North Greenville's inaugural men's volleyball squad, provided a team-high nine kills for the Crusaders. Matthew McManaway added seven, and Alexander Schinzing contributed a match-high 21 assists.
Barton cruised through the opening set after jumping out to a quick 11-3 lead. Novoa-Miralles had two kills and a block assist, Perez had one kill and one block assist, and Pierre Tang-Taye had a kill and an ace over the span for BC.
North Greenville hurt its cause with service errors on three straight side-outs and four in the set. Those miscues were one factor in the Crusaders not winning any points on their own possession in the frame.
The Bulldogs had just one attack error in the entire set, finishing the game with a .714 hitting percentage. North Greenville, meanwhile, had just six kills in the frame and hit negative .062.
Four errors by the Crusaders, two on set attempts and the other two on attacks, helped Barton turn a 4-all tie into a five-point lead in set two. The Bulldogs extended that advantage to seven at 16-9 and appeared on the way to another easy set win.
Down 18-13, however, North Greenville regained possession on a Barton blocking error and then rolled off the next five points to take a 19-18 lead. Westra led the charge back with two kills, a block and an assist.
A kill by BC's Brennan O'Connor stopped the run and tied the match, but the Crusaders used consecutive attack errors by Barton and another Westra kill to move in front, 22-19.
After calling a timeout, the Bulldogs regained possession on an NGU error and never gave it back. Barton won the final five points of the set, two on aces by Scalia and the final one on a block by Perez and Ben Kasun.
Westra had five of his nine kills in the frame, but they were offset by five Barton aces in the set.
Despite seeing the second set slip away, North Greenville continued to battle in the third frame. The Crusaders used a pair of kills each from Martin Alcox and Luuga Vailu'u to surge in front 13-7. Barton still trailed by four as late as 17-13 before rolling off six straight points to claim the lead, 19-17. Perez had two block assists during the spurt and O'Connor chipped in an ace.
The two sides then traded points all the way to 23-21, where Barton used consecutive kills by Chad Stanback Jr. and Perez to finish off the match.
Novoa-Miralles had seven of his 10 kills in the third set, and the Bulldogs hit .367 as a team in the frame.
The contest was the last of four straight home matches for Barton to open the season. The Bulldogs will play their next seven matches on the road, starting with a Jan. 23 match at the league's defending champion, Erskine College. Barton's road trip will also include two matches against teams nationally-ranked in the top five, including No. 1 and defending NCAA Division I-II national champion Loyola Chicago on Jan. 31.
