Box Score by Cory Guinn
WILSON, N.C. – For the second consecutive night, the Barton College men's volleyball team needed five sets to decide a Conference Carolinas matchup. The Bulldogs earned a 3-2 victory over the visiting Bobcats of Lees-McRae College.
The victory was Barton's sixth in a row in league play, helping the Bulldogs improve to 9-6 in conference and 11-14 overall, while the Bobcats fell to 2-13 overall and 1-11 in the league.
Four Bulldogs finished with double-digit kills as senior Brennan O'Connor and sophomore Jonathan Novoa-Miralles led the team with 12 kills each. Junior Pierre Tang-Taye chipped in 11 kills of his own, hitting .500 in the contest, while freshman Charles Hyde totaled 10 kills and seven block assists.
Freshman Ben Kasun totaled 53 assists, and senior Tanner Medina led all players with eight block assists to go with six kills. Senior Mike McMahon finished the contest with 14 digs, while O'Connor contributed 10 of his own.
The national leader in kills per set Brady Markle paced the Bobcats with a game-high 25 kills. John Sobel added 16 kills and seven service aces, and Drew Belcher contributed 31 assists.
Barton jumped out an early 7-0 lead in the first set, taking advantage of six attack errors by the Bobcats. The Bulldog lead quickly stretched to a 17-5 advantage before Lees-McRae could gain any momentum. A kill from Tang-Taye ended the set with a 25-12 score in favor of Barton.
The Bulldogs again used a quick start to build a 6-2 lead in the second set, thanks in large part to four early kills from Novoa-Miralles. Barton hit an outstanding .654 in the second set to earn a 25-16 lead and a 2-0 edge in the match.
However, the third set would see the Bulldogs struggle on the court, hitting just.077 and giving Lees-McRae a 25-21 victory.
Lees-McRae carried its momentum into the fourth set of action, building an 11-2 lead over Barton before two Tang-Taye kills and two Bobcats attack errors made the score 11-6 in favor of LMC. The two teams continued to trade points but the early deficit was too much for the Bulldogs to overcome as Lees-McRae sealed the 25-22 victory to tie the match at 2-2 and force a decisive fifth set.
Barton regained its early-match form to hit .556 in the final set to earn the victory on its home floor.
The Bulldogs have a week away from competition before hosting Belmont Abbey College on Friday, March 27 at 7 p.m.
