Box Score by Benny Benton
DUE WEST, S.C. – Barton College used six third-set kills from junior transfer Pierre Tang-Taye to take a set off the defending Conference Carolinas champions Friday night, but Erskine College claimed the conference matchup, 25-16, 25-19, 21-25, 25-23, in Belk Arena.
Tang-Taye had 17 kills on the night, matching his highest total of the young season. Sophomore Jonathan Novoa-Miralles, the reigning player of the week in the league, added 10 kills and eight digs, while sophomore setter Federico Pagliara pushed up 35 assists for the Bulldogs, now 2-3 overall and 2-2 in league play.
Erskine won its fourth straight match to improve to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the conference. The Fleet received a match-high 18 kills from two-time all-conference hitter Mike Michelau and 14 from Roberto Perez Vargas, who also added 12 digs and three service aces.
Barton had its worst set of the season to open the match, producing more than twice as many errors as kills (9 versus 4) in hitting a negative .263. Erskine led throughout the set, breaking it open with a 12-2 run beginning at 6-4. The Fleet had five service aces in the frame, three of them during the run.
Tang-Taye had four kills in the second set as the Bulldogs bounced back from their poor start. Trailing 16-12 midway through the frame, Barton used a kill and block assist by Michael Perez to close within a point at 16-15, but Erskine's Omar Melendez produced a kill and block assist for the Fleet as part of a 4-0 run that provided some cushion.
The Bulldogs got off to a 5-1 start in set three and never trailed in the frame. Down as many as eight at 12-4, Erskine rallied to within a single point at 20-19 on a Barton attack error, but Novoa-Miralles had a pair of kills and Tang-Taye had one as well down the stretch. The Fleet assisted the Bulldogs by hitting just .056 in the set, its worst effort of the night.
Given new life by the set win, Barton battled through a tough fourth set by producing its best attack performance of the night, hitting .242. Tang-Taye had five kills and Novoa-Miralles added four in the final frame, which featured 10 ties and five lead changes.
Barton led the fourth set as late as 19-18, but consecutive blocks by Melendez and Michael Schneck put the Fleet into the lead at 20-19. BC tied the match at 20-all on a kill by Novoa-Miralles, but kills by Michelau and Schneck put EC up by two. Twice more, Novoa-Miralles would produce kills to pull the Bulldogs back within one, but each time Erskine responded. A Tang-Taye kill moved Barton within one a final time at 24-23, but a Bulldog service error ended the match.
The Royal Blue and White, which saw a two-match winning streak come to an end, will attempt to get back on track Saturday afternoon when it visits Limestone College for a 2 p.m. match.
