Box Score by Cory Guinn
HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Barton College men's volleyball team rebounded from back-to-back losses last week with a 3-0 (32-30, 25-16 25-21) win over non-conference foe Coker College on Tuesday night in the DeLoach Center.
Barton (2-2) handed Coker (3-1) its first loss of the season by recording a .261 hitting percentage as a team and holding the Cobras to a .088 mark on the opposing attack.
Senior Pierre Tang-Taye led all players with 12 kills, hitting a season-high .304 to go along with eight digs. Freshman Vasilis Mandilaris totaled 11 kills of his own, while fellow freshman Aleksa Brkovic tallied a game-high 36 assists with five service aces. Freshman Kekaulike Alameda finished with 13 digs in the three-set match.
The two teams played to 15 total ties in the opening set of play as neither team was able to gain an advantage of more than three points at any time. A kill from freshman Nick Leary followed by a Coker attack error ended the marathon set in favor of BC at 32-30.
Despite the Cobras getting out to an early 5-1 lead in the second frame, the Bulldogs used back-to-back attacking errors by Coker to tie the match at 9-9. With the game tied at 15-all, Barton scored four consecutive points, including kills from Leary, Mandiaris and freshman Justice Lord to build a 19-15 lead. BC scored the sets final five points as a kill from Tang-Taye ended the frame and put Barton ahead 2-0 in the match.
Barton once again fell behind early in the third set but battled back to tie the score and eventually secure a 25-21 set victory to come away with the road win.
The Bulldogs have a week off from competition before beginning a two-game road trip on Friday, January 30. Barton will travel to Tigerville, S.C. for a conference tilt with North Greenville University before traveling to Franklin Springs, Ga. On Sunday, January 31 to matchup with Emmanuel College.
