Box Score by Cory Guinn
WILSON, N.C. – For the second time this season, the Barton women's volleyball team defeated Erskine College in straight sets. However, this time earned the Lady Bulldogs the title of 2016 Conference Carolinas Tournament Champions for the first time in school history.
Barton improved to 21-8 on the season after defeating the Flying Fleet 3-0 (25-16, 25-20, 27-25), coming back from a seven-point deficit in the final set to claim the championship crown. BC also the North Division Regular Season Champions and the tournament's No.1 overall seed and have now earned a spot in the NCAA Regional Tournament on Dec. 2-4.
The first set of action was mostly controlled by the host team as Barton hit .516 as a team to climb out of an early deficit. A 6-2 run by the Lady Bulldogs, including the final two points of the set, sealed the set one win.
Erskine once again led early on in the second set at 6-5 before Barton twice tied the set and eventually took an 8-7 lead after a kill from sophomore Allie Cullens. The BC lead extended to 19-11 late before the Fleet scored six unanswered points and forced Barton to take a timeout. Barton responded with another 6-2 run, taking a 2-0 match lead following a kill from sophomore Hayley Marshburn.
The Fleet took control with three straight points to begin the final set, building a lead as large as 20-13 before head coach Jeff Lennox called a timeout.
His team responded with five unanswered points to get with two points of the Erskine lead, tying the match at 21-21 and taking the lead on back-to-back Marshburn kills. The match was tied four more times down the stretch until consecutive kills from senior Mariana Kedzia and junior Courtney Wiseman gave Barton its first tournament title.
The Lady Bulldogs hit .347 in the match, thanks in large part to 16 kills and a .500 hitting mark from Kedzia. Marshburn hit .348 and led all players with 21 kills, as Wiseman finished with seven kills of her own.
Redshirt-sophomore Riley Bane and senior Laura Peed had 18 and 16 digs, respectively on defense, while sophomore setter Angelica Acevedo narrowly missed a double-double with 43 assists and nine digs.
Acevedo, Bane and Cullens were all named to the All-Tournament Team during a postgame ceremony with Acevedo earning Conference Carolinas Tournament Most Valuable Players honors.
Bane had 50 digs over two matches in the Final Four, as Cullens totaled 14 kills and 11 blocks at the net. Acevedo directed the BC offense with 89 total assists in the two games to go along with 23 digs and seven total blocks.
