Box Score by Doug Page
DUE WEST, S.C. – After a 14-day hiatus from competition, the Barton College Bulldogs recorded their eighth straight victory with a 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 31-29) sweep of Erskine College on Friday in Conference Carolinas men's volleyball action.
Barton (13-6, 10-0) remained perfect in league play with the win and tallied 21 kills in the third set to secure the sweep against the Flying Fleet. Erskine (4-12, 1-8) didn't go down without a fight on their home court as the Flying Fleet forced the Bulldogs to record 31 points in the third set and rallied from a 23-20 deficit in the set.
Sophomore Angelos Mandilaris tallied a match-high 13 kills for Barton while adding nine digs. Junior Aleksa Brkovic added 12 kills and eight digs for BC, while junior Vasilis Mandilaris notched eight kills and a team-high 12 digs for the Bulldogs. Redshirt sophomore Oscar Fiorentino tallied a match-high 35 assists for Barton while adding two kills and five digs. Sophomore Tim Wiese notched a career-high 10 digs in the match for the Bulldogs.
Kevin Braceros was the lone Erskine player to hit double figures in kills with 10, while Matt Friddle recorded a team-high 21 assists to go along with seven digs. Antonio Delgado tallied a match-high 14 digs for the Flying Fleet, while Keegan Sullivan added six kills and three total blocks for Erskine.
Barton held a 5-3 advantage in the opening set before a kill by Sullivan sparked a 6-0 run for the Flying Fleet. Trailing 13-9, BC used a 3-0 rally to cut the deficit to one and force Erskine to call a timeout. The Bulldogs rallied to knot the score 17-17 and capped a 4-0 run by taking a 20-17 advantage in the set. Barton later upped its edge to 23-18 following an attack error by Gary Aromin. Leading 24-20, a kill from V. Mandilaris would give Barton a 25-20 victory in the set and a 1-0 lead in the match.
Erskine knotted the second set 10-10 before the Bulldogs answered with a 3-0 rally to take a 13-10 lead. Another 3-0 run increased the BC lead to 17-12 as the Bulldogs maintained momentum in the set. A service error by the Flying Fleet, coupled with Barton's lone ace of the match from junior Justice Lord would give the Bulldogs a 23-16 lead. Following a 2-0 run for the Flying Fleet, BC got a kill from V. Mandilaris to give the Bulldogs a 25-19 win and 2-0 lead in the match.
The Bulldogs started the third set on a 9-4 run following a kill by A. Mandilaris. Barton would stretch its lead to 16-10 in the set before Erskine rallied to trim the gap to 16-12. Trailing 18-13, the Flying Fleet used a 3-0 run to cut the gap to 18-16. BC took a 23-19 lead in the set and looked poised to complete the sweep before Erskine went on a 4-0 run to knot the set 23-23. Following a timeout by the Bulldogs, Erskine kept its run alive as Sullivan delivered a kill to give the Flying Fleet a 24-23 lead.
Both teams would swap consecutive points as Erskine found itself with a 26-25 lead before the Bulldogs called their second timeout of the set. Barton recorded four of the final five points in the set to secure the 31-29 victory in the set and a 3-0 sweep of the match. Brkovic tallied the kill for BC to give the Bulldogs the win off an assist from Wiese.
The Bulldogs head to Emmanuel College on Saturday for a conference matchup with the Lions at 2 p.m.
