Box Score by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C. – The Barton College men's volleyball team saw its streak of consecutive Conference Carolinas victories end at six Friday night as the Bulldogs dropped a five-set decision to Belmont Abbey College at Wilson Gymnasium, 26-28, 25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 15-11.
Many of the wounds suffered by the Bulldogs were self-inflicted, as Barton committed 23 service errors – second-most in program history – and a season-high 37 attack errors. The hitting miscues came after BC had produced school records in each of its previous two matches for best single-game attack percentage (the latter one .388).
For all the mistakes, Barton was still tied with Belmont Abbey at 8-all halfway through the tiebreaker set. After consecutive BC attack errors put the Crusaders up 10-8, Ben Kasun collected a kill to close the Bulldog deficit to one, but a kill by Justin Snyder, a solo block by Anthony Pippen and a kill by Pippen put Belmont Abbey up 13-9 and on its way to the win.
The victory was the fifth for Belmont Abbey (11-10, 7-6) in its last seven matches, and kept the Crusaders in sixth place in the league. Barton (11-15, 9-7), which had just moved into third place in the conference, slipped back to fifth, percentage points behind University of Mount Olive.
Nolan Albrecht led the Crusaders with 20 kills and Pippen added 11. Albrecht also had 14 digs, as did Robert Valentine.
Junior Pierre Tang-Taye, who set a school single-game record with 26 kills in Barton's five-set win at Belmont Abbey earlier this year, added a match-high 23 kills in Friday's loss. Senior Brennan O'Connor also reached double-figures with 11. Sophomore Jonathan Novoa-Miralles came off the bench to record six kills in the one set he played, helping the Bulldogs win set four and force the tiebreaker.
Senior libero Mike McMahon collected 21 digs for the Bulldogs, and the freshman Kasun, getting the start at setter for the injured Federico Pagliara, produced 48 assists.
Despite Belmont Abbey hitting .350 in the first set and Barton managing just .129, the Bulldogs squeaked out a 28-26 win. BC trailed by four points at 22-18 following an Albrecht kill, but two kills by Tang-Taye sandwiched around consecutive service aces by Kasun helped the Bulldogs tie the set at 22-all.
Kasun hit his next serve into the net, but BAC returned the favor in knotting the set at 23-all. A block by Chad Stanback Jr. and Charles Hyde put Barton on set point, but a kill by Albrecht sent the set into a tiebreaker at 24-all. The Bulldogs held a set point at 25-24 after an O'Connor kill, and the Crusaders enjoyed a set point at 26-25 following a block by Dustin Buell and Pippen. However, in each case the other side answered to take the match back to a tie.
Barton grabbed another set point at 27-26 on a Belmont Abbey attack error, and this time Stanback delivered an ace to finish off the frame in favor of the Bulldogs.
Set two was tied at 18-all when a kill by Albrecht, a Barton attack error and a block by Derek Sullivan and Buell put the Crusaders up by three. The Bulldogs closed to within one on two occasions, the last one at 24-23 on a kill by Tang-Taye, but a service error by BC handed the set to the visitors.
The third set followed a similar script as the second, with BAC breaking a 17-all tie with a three-point run. Barton rallied to tie the set three times, the last one at 23-all, but a service error and an attack error by BC gave the Crusaders the final two points for the win.
There were 56 ties in the match, and 16 of them came in the fourth set. The two sides traded every other point all the way to 14-14 before Belmont Abbey won consecutive points for the first time in the frame. The Bulldogs tied the match once more at 18-all on a Kasun ace, but the Crusaders opened up a two-point cushion again on a Brennan Beyner kill and a BC attack error.
Barton still trailed by two at 22-20 when Novoa-Miralles delivered consecutive kills to tie the set. An ace by Stanback put the Bulldogs in front, and another kill by Novoa-Miralles put BC on set point at 24-22. A service error pulled Belmont Abbey back within one, but Novoa-Miralles' fifth kill in the final six points for Barton closed out the set and forced the tiebreaker.
Kills by Albrecht and Pippen and two Barton attack errors put the Bulldogs down quickly in set five, 4-1. Kills by Tang-Taye and O'Connor helped BC climb back into a tie at 6-all, but Barton could never grab the lead in the final frame.
Belmont Abbey hit .222 in the match compared the Barton's .139. The Crusaders, the league leader in blocks, also enjoyed an edge in that category, 16.5 to 9.5. The Bulldogs did produce nine aces to BAC's two, with Kasun earning five of those aces.
Barton will host Mount Olive in its final conference home match of the year on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
