Box Score by Cory Guinn
WILSON, N.C. – The winning streak for the Barton College men's volleyball team reached five games in a row with a 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-18) victory over rival University of Mount Olive on Wednesday night in Wilson Gymnasium.
Barton improved to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in Conference Carolinas play, while Mount Olive fell to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the league.
The Bulldogs hit .454 as a team and matched a season-high with nine service aces. The Trojans were able to hit .336 in the match but committed 19 service errors in the defeat.
Mount Olive and Barton played to seven total ties in a tightly contest first set as UMO's Peyton Schirman ended the set with a kill to give the Trojans a 25-23 win. Schirman finished with a match-high 24 kills and a .489 hitting percentage to lead Mount Olive.
Barton responded with an early 4-1 run in the second set to take the lead. The BC lead grew to as large a margin as 10 points late in the frame, leading to the seven-point win. The Bulldogs controlled the third and fourth sets to earn their fourth league win in a row.
Senior Pierre Tang-Taye led the BC attacked with 16 kills and a .423 hitting percentage to go along with 10 kills for his first double-double of the season. Freshman Vasilis Mandilaris also recorded 16 kills in the match and hit .464, while fellow freshman Aleksa Brkovic finished with 11 kills and seven digs.
Junior setter Federico Pagliara registered his first double-double of the season with 47 assists and 10 digs as freshman Kekaulike Alameda led all players with 14 digs in four sets. Freshman Nick Leary totaled seven kills and a .600 hitting percentage while leading the team with three block assists.
Barton will be on the road over the weekend as the team travels to Ball State University on Friday, February 12 for a match 7 p.m. in Muncie, Ind. BC concludes the brief road trip with a match against Alderson-Broaddus University on Saturday, February 13 in Philippi, W. Va. at 4 p.m.
