Box Score by Cory Guinn
TIGERVILLE, S.C. – The Barton College men's volleyball team lost its first set of the season on Friday night but still came away with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-21, 25-16, 25-16) victory over North Greenville University inside Hayes Gymnasium.
Barton (3-0, 2-0) improved its hitting percentage in each set, compiling a .333 hitting mark in the contest compared to a .111 hitting performance by the Crusaders (0-5, 0-1). BC had 11 total blocks in the match to hold NGU to the low percentage, but struggled at the service line with 18 errors.
The Crusaders took control early in the match, leading for much of the first set until Barton tied the score at 21-21 and again at 22-all. However, NGU took advantage of back-to-back attack errors by the Bulldogs and ended the set with a kill from Kyle Brandt for a 1-0 lead.
The Bulldogs responded with a 6-2 run to open the second set of play, holding onto the lead despite the Crusaders chipping away throughout the frame. A kill from sophomore Justice Lord and an NGU attack error ended the set in Barton's favor and tied match at one set apiece.
Barton once again led early and often in the third set, scoring the 10 of the final 12 points to go ahead in the match. The fourth and final set proved to hold much of the same as BC hit .423 as a unit to secure its second consecutive win on the road.
Freshman Angelos Mandilaris found a groove and led BC with 17 kills and a .414 hitting mark, while brother Vasilis Mandilaris followed with 13 kills of his own to go with seven digs.
Lord had eight kills without an error to hit .727 and chipped in four total blocks as senior setter Federico Pagliara totaled 44 assists and six digs. Redshirt-senior Juan Varona led the defense with nine digs.
Barton has a quick turnaround as the team travels to Limestone College tomorrow for a match beginning at 10:30 a.m. in Gaffney, S.C.
