Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 by Doug Page
WILSON, N.C. – The Barton College women's volleyball team extended its winning streak to 13 matches with a pair of 3-1 victories against the University of Mount Olive and Shaw University Saturday at Wilson Gymnasium.
The winning streak matches the season-long mark put together by the Lady Bulldogs from Sept. 24-Nov. 1, 2016. The current streak for BC started back on Sept. 13, when the Lady Bulldogs defeated Francis Marion University, 3-0.
The Lady Bulldogs upped their overall record to 16-6 on the season while moving to 10-0 in Conference Carolinas play after beating the Trojans to start the day. Mount Olive dropped to 8-16 overall this season and 4-6 in the conference after a pair of losses. Shaw stands at 21-4 on the season after splitting their two matches in Wilson. The loss to BC snapped a four-match winning streak for the Bears.
In the opening match of the day for BC, senior Courtney Wiseman recorded a match-high 17 kills and was responsible for 20.5 points for Barton. Wiseman also added two service aces and three block assists to compliment her .517 hitting percentage.
Barton junior Angelica Acevedo registered a double-double as she tallied a match-high 45 assists to go along with 14 team-high 14 digs. Senior Miranda Miller narrowly missed a double-double of her own, finishing with nine kills and 11 digs. Senior Janay Yulis tallied a match-high five block assists while delivering eight kills.
Mount Olive was led by a team-high 13 kills from Britni Johnson. Johnson also added 13 digs to record a double-double for the Trojans. Casey Fiechter notched a match-high 15 digs, while Kamber Skeen added 26 assists and 12 digs for UMO.
The Lady Bulldogs controlled the tempo in the opening set against the Trojans, despite seeing the lead change hands on two separate occasions. BC would take a 6-2 lead after junior Haley Headley delivered a kill to cap a four-point run. The Trojans rallied later in the set after falling behind 11-7. Mount Olive used a five-point rally to put momentum on their side of the court and take a 12-11 lead. Wiseman helped Barton take the lead back after recording a pair of kills during a four-point spurt to give the Lady Bulldogs a 15-12 advantage.
A five-point outburst from the Lady Bulldogs to extend their lead in the set to 22-16 put BC in the driver's seat en route to the 25-19 win after a kill from Miller sealed the deal.
The Trojans would flip the script on Barton in the second set and battle back from several deficits. The biggest of the rallied from UMO would come after BC scored back-to-back points to take a 20-15 lead. Five consecutive points from the Trojans knotted the score 20-20 and two more points gave UMO a 22-20 lead. Barton ended the run after an attack error from Mount Olive's Kaitlin Grote. Johnson knotted the match 1-1 after her kill gave UMO a 25-21 win in the set.
Barton led from start to finish in the third set and held a 13-point advantage halfway through after taking a 22-9 lead. The Trojans would work on closing the gap after a pair of three-point rallies trimmed the BC lead to 23-16. A kill by Wiseman followed by an attack error from Mount Olive gave the Lady Bulldogs a 25-16 victory in the set and a 2-1 lead in the match.
BC tallied 19 kills as a team in the fourth set and battled multiple comeback attempts by UMO. After falling behind in the set 14-13, Barton knotted the set and added four more points to take an 18-14 lead. Leading 20-15, Barton seemed to go back to the second set as Mount Olive trimmed the gap to 20-18 after winning three-straight points. BC would be able to close-out the match with a three-point rally to secure the 3-1 victory.
In the second match of the day for BC, Elkins guided the Lady Bulldogs offensively with a match-high 21 kills against Shaw. Miller would add a double-double for Barton with 14 kills and 14 digs, while Wiseman and Headley each chipped in eight kills. Acevedo contributed 51 assists and 13 digs for the Lady Bulldogs.
Barton held the lead throughout the entire first set, en route to the 25-17 victory to go up 1-0 against the Bears. The second set would prove a tough task once again for BC with the Bears rallying late in the set to gain the momentum. The set featured 10 ties and five lead changes. Shaw had a 23-18 lead in the set before BC made a charge and eventually took a 24-23 lead after rattling off six-straight points. The Bears would even the score 24-24 and eventually string together the final two points needed to secure the 28-26 victory to even the match 1-1.
The Lady Bulldogs responded by controlling the tempo in the third set and after some early lead changes, held onto the lead to take a 2-1 lead in the match. The turning point of the set came as BC stretched a four-point lead into an eight-point advantage. Headley would be a huge factor in that run for the Lady Bulldogs, recording three kills. Barton would take the set 25-17 after a kill from Elkins and a bad set by the Bears.
The fourth set saw BC turn a 2-0 deficit into a 7-2 lead after a commanding seven-point rally. After seeing the lead trimmed to 14-11, Barton used an eight-point rally and winning 11 of the final 12 points en route to a 25-12 victory in the set and a 3-1 win in the match. Barton hit .360 in the set as a team, recording 15 kills on 30 total attacks.
Keveesha Wattley paced Shaw with 12 kills, while Aliani Adelis added a team-high 18 digs. Michelle Olmeda-Gonzalez tallied a team-high 17 assists for the Bears.
Barton will return to action on Friday as the Lady Bulldogs travel to Erskine College for a 7 p.m. Conference Carolinas matchup against the Flying Fleet.
