Box Score by Doug Page
MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – Five sets would be needed to decide a winner between Barton College and the University of Mount Olive on Wednesday inside Kornegay Arena. The Bulldogs would rally from a 2-1 deficit in the match to hand the Trojans a 3-2 defeat in Conference Carolinas men's volleyball action.
Barton (8-6, 6-0) rebounded from a pair of tough sets in the middle of the match to record 27 kills in the fourth and fifth sets against the Trojans. The Bulldogs sit tied atop the league standings with King University, who swept Limestone College on Tuesday. Mount Olive (8-4, 5-1) saw its seven-match winning streak come to an end as the Trojans dropped their first league match of the season.
Junior Aleksa Brkovic set a career-high with 30 kills on the night for the Bulldogs and tallied 10 digs to go along with two aces. Junior Vasilis Mandilaris notched 15 kills while adding 12 digs for Barton. Sophomore Angelos Mandilaris added 11 kills, 16 digs, and one solo block, while junior Justice Lord recorded two solo blocks and four block assists for BC. Redshirt sophomore Oscar Fiorentino dished out a career-high 62 assists, while freshman Wilfredo Rivera had a career-best 20 digs.
Brad Monaghan paced the Trojans with 17 kills while adding seven digs. Jerell Rogers added 13 kills, three digs, and three solo blocks for Mount Olive, while Bret Rutledge recorded nine kills and eight digs. Jeff Yasalonis tallied 41 assists in the match and Josh Donahue added a team-high 16 digs.
Barton controlled the tempo for a majority of the opening set as the Bulldogs tallied 16 kills off 34 total attempts. Leading 10-8, the Bulldogs used a 4-0 rally to put some breathing room between the two sides. Trailing by seven points in the set, the Trojans trimmed the gap to 16-12 and forced BC to call a timeout. The Bulldogs would take a 20-14 lead following an attack error by Rutledge. A kill from Brkovic put the Bulldogs within a point of taking the set until the Trojans would gain momentum and close the gap to 24-20. Junior Nick Leary would put an end to things as his kill put BC ahead 1-0 in the match.
Set two saw the Bulldogs take a 12-9 lead following an ace from Brkovic to cap a 3-0 run. The Trojans countered with a 2-0 spurt to trim the deficit to 12-11. Mount Olive gained a 14-13 edge after a kill by Kian Hollevoet. A 2-0 rally by the Trojans led to BC taking a timeout after falling behind by two on the scoreboard. Consecutive kills from Brkovic would later knot the score at 17-17 but an ensuing 3-0 run by the Trojans gave them a 20-17 advantage. Leading 20-18, the Trojans rattled-off five consecutive points to take the set 25-18 and even the match 1-1.
Mount Olive had all the momentum to start the third set, tallying the opening five points to force the Bulldogs to use an early timeout. The Trojans eventually upped their lead to 10-2 following a kill from Hollevoet. Trailing 12-4, Barton shaved the deficit to 12-7 after an attack error by Hollevoet. Barton rallied late in the set to pull within one-point of the Trojans as Brkovic made it 22-21 Mount Olive. A service error coupled with an ace by the Bulldogs trimmed the UMO lead to 24-23. Monaghan delivered the kill to put the Trojans up 2-1 in the match and secure a 25-23 victory in the set.
Barton gained a three-point advantage in the third set on the heels of a 4-0 run as the Bulldogs erased a 5-4 deficit. Leading 11-8, BC saw its lead evaporate as the Trojans tallied three straight points to knot the set 11-11. Lord and V. Mandilaris keyed a 3-0 run to give the Bulldogs the lead back at 14-11. Leading 20-17 in the set, BC scored five of the next six points to send the match to a decisive fifth set. The Bulldogs tallied 19 kills in the set on 38 total attacks as Barton hit .421 as a team.
The Bulldogs started the fifth set on a mission as BC raced out to a 4-1 lead following back-to-back attack errors by Mount Olive. BC would later take a 7-5 advantage before the Trojans knotted the score. With the set tied 11-11, the Trojans gained their first lead as Monaghan delivered a kill to make it 12-11. BC used a timeout and tied the score off a kill by A. Mandilaris. Mount Olive would take one more lead in the set (13-12) before BC took the set (15-13) and the match with a 3-2 victory.
Mount Olive recorded 10 kills to Barton's nine in the fifth set, but five errors would prove costly for the Trojans as consecutive attack errors paved the way for the Bulldogs. The two sides combined for 119 kills, 300 total attacks, 118 digs, and 114 assists in the match.
The Bulldogs return home for a pair of conference matchups over the weekend against Lees-McRae College (Feb. 23) and King University (Feb. 24).
