Box Score by Benny Benton
HARTSVILLE, S.C. – A sharp offensive attack by the Barton College men's volleyball team produced a .344 hitting percentage and a straight-set non-conference victory over host Coker College Tuesday night at the DeLoach Center, 25-19, 25-20, 26-24.
The .344 attack rate was the best in the program's four-year history, surpassing the .333 mark set earlier this year in a win over North Greenville University.
The Bulldogs (4-7) hit over .300 for the second straight outing in completing a seven-match road trip with consecutive victories.
Junior transfer Pierre Tang-Taye produced a match-high 14 kills while hitting .450 and sophomore Chad Stanback Jr. added eight kills while hitting .308. Senior Mike McMahon collected a match-high seven digs and senior Tanner Medina chipped in five blocks, two of them solo.
Coker (1-8) was paced by Luke Hansen, who had a team-high eight kills while hitting .412 and a match-high three service aces. Artur Cabral contributed seven kills and four block assists.
Barton jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead and never trailed in set one. Coker did tie the match on three occasions, the last time at 11-all, but a Charles Hyde kill started the Bulldogs on a 7-1 run that put BC comfortably in the lead. The Cobras climbed back within three at 22-19, but Tang-Taye had one of his four first-set kills to stop the rally.
The Bulldogs hit .533 in the opening frame, while the Cobras had an equal number of kills and errors (.000).
A kill, service ace and block assist by Cabral boosted Coker to an early 5-1 cushion in set two, and the Cobras doubled up the Bulldogs, 10-5, on a Colton Parsons kill. However, with the Cobras up 14-10, kills by Hyde and Tang-Taye and a block by Hyde and Stanback helped BC tie the set at 14-all.
Still knotted at 15-all, a Tang-Taye ace gave Barton its first lead of the frame, and a Stanback kill increased the margin to two at 17-15. Coker cut the deficit back to one on two occasions, the last time at 18-17 on a Leshon Alexander kill, but a Medina kill and a ball-handling error by the Cobras put Barton up 20-17, and from there the Cobras got no closer than two.
The Cobras took an early 7-4 advantage in set three and held the lead for much of the frame. From 13-12, two Barton errors and two block assists by Alexander gave Coker a five-point cushion. The Cobras still held leads of four points at 21-17 and three points at 23-20, but Barton stormed back with four straight points, reaching match point on a block by Medina and Federico Pagliara.
Coker briefly stayed alive with a Hansen kill that tied the set at 24-all, but a Tang-Taye kill and a Coker attack error closed out the win for the Bulldogs. Both Tang-Taye and Stanback collected half of their total match kills in the final set to lead the Barton rally.
The Bulldogs will play a home match for the first time since January 17 on Thursday when it welcomes defending league champion Erskine to the Dog House for a 7 p.m. battle.
