Box Score by Doug Page
BELMONT, N.C. – The Barton College women's volleyball team extended its winning streak to seven matches with a three-set road victory over Belmont Abbey College Friday night at the Wheeler Center, 25-20, 28-26, 25-21.
The Lady Bulldogs improve to 6-0 in Conference Carolinas play and 10-6 overall with the win. Belmont Abbey, which entered the match in sole possession of second behind Barton in the league's North Division, dropped to 3-2 in the conference and 7-6 overall.
Barton freshman Kaytlin Elkins paced the Lady Bulldogs with a team-high 12 kills on the night, while recording 11 digs and three service aces. Elkins also notched her fifth double-double of the season and second-consecutive after tallying 20 kills and 10 digs against Mount Olive on Tuesday night.
Junior Allie Cullens chipped in nine kills and senior Miranda Miller contributed seven kills and seven digs for BC. Senior Courtney Wiseman produced seven kills and three total blocks, while junior Angelica Acevedo added 32 assists and 11 digs for her 11th double-double of the season for the Lady Bulldogs.
Belmont Abbey was led by a match-high 13 kills and a team-high 12 digs from Mackenzie Chrapliwy. Sarah Kenney added 10 kills and Cassidy Bonito tallied 18 assists for the Crusaders.
The Lady Bulldogs would take command of the opening set after an attack error by Chrapliwy knotted the score 7-7. Junior Maddison Thomson found herself involved in each of the next four points that BC would take from the Crusaders, including back-to-back service aces. The Tarpon Springs, Fla., resident gave Barton an 11-7 lead in the set before a kill by Chrapliwy ended the run to make it 11-8.
A three-point run for BC upped its lead to 14-8 and the Lady Bulldogs would keep the lead the rest of way. Belmont Abbey trimmed the Barton lead to 23-20 late in the set before a kill and block from Wiseman finished off the 25-20 win.
Belmont Abbey rallied in the second set against BC, using a five-point run to turn a 7-5 deficit into a 10-7 lead. The Crusaders seemed poised to have the momentum completely on their side of the court until Elkins took command for the Lady Bulldogs. BC countered with a four-point run of its own to take the lead back 11-10 after an ace from Elkins capped-off the rally.
The lead would change hands multiple times throughout the middle of the set as Belmont Abbey took a 25-24 lead before BC received a huge kill from Cullens to knot the score. Tied 26-26, a service error by the Crusaders gave the Lady Bulldogs a 27-26 advantage, and Elkins would end the set with a kill off an assist from Acevedo.
BC jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third set after a kill by Wiseman. Back-to-back aces from Elkins increased the Barton lead to 7-3 in the set, but the Crusaders wouldn't go down without a fight as they eventually used a 4-0 run to knot the set, 16-16.
After trading a couple of points, Barton took the lead for good in the set thanks to a 2-0 run that made it 20-18. A kill by Chrapliwy cut the Belmont Abbey deficit to 23-21, but consecutive kills form Wiseman and Miller secured the set and the match for the Lady Bulldogs, 25-21.
Barton will open a six-match home stand at Wilson Gym beginning on Friday, October 6 against King University. The match between the Conference Carolinas foes is set for 7 p.m.
