Box Score by Doug Page
WILSON, N.C. – The Barton College Bulldogs recorded a 3-0 sweep (25-15, 25-18, 25-18) of Erskine College on Tuesday night in the quarterfinals of the Conference Carolinas Men's Volleyball Championship. The Bulldogs advance to the semifinals to face the University of Mount Olive.
Barton (20-7) will face the Trojans in the semifinals after defeating Mount Olive 3-0 to win the tournament title on its home floor a year ago. The semifinal matchup is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday night following the other matchup between Belmont Abbey College and King University, who will host the two-day event. The Conference Carolinas Men's Volleyball Championship will be held on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Erskine (7-20) dropped an opening-round matchup against BC for the second straight year after falling 3-2 to the Bulldogs last season.
Sophomore Angelos Mandilaris paced BC offensively with a match-high 15 kills. Mandilaris also added three aces and four digs, while junior Vasilis Mandilaris tallied 10 kills to go along with three aces. Junior Aleksa Brkovic added seven kills and six digs for the Bulldogs, while junior Justice Lord recorded a pair of solo blocks and four block assists. Sophomore Tim Wiese notched a match-high nine digs, while redshirt sophomore Oscar Fiorentino delivered a match-high 36 assists.
Daniel Hermida guided the Flying Fleet offensively with seven kills, while Absalon Williams and Gary Aromin each added four kills for Erskine. Colton Rosendahl added six digs and two solo blocks for the Flying Fleet, while Matt Friddle recorded a team-high 10 assists.
Barton would lead from start-to-finish in the opening set as A. Mandilaris started the match with an ace for the Bulldogs. Erskine rallied to knot the set 2-2 before BC tallied consecutive points to take a 4-2 lead. The Bulldogs used a 3-0 run to turn an 8-7 advantage into an 11-7 lead following kills from junior Nick Leary, Lord, and A. Mandilaris. The big run for BC came on the heels on a 5-0 stretch that allowed the Bulldogs to open a 16-8 edge over the Flying Fleet.
The Flying Fleet used a timeout to spark a mini-rally as Erskine would win five of the next seven points to trim the gap to 18-13. BC used an ensuing 3-0 run to take a 21-13 lead and force Erskine to take its second timeout. The Bulldogs closed the set with a kill and ace from the Mandilaris brothers to secure the 25-15 victory and a 1-0 lead in the match.
BC took control of set two after using a 7-0 rally to open an 11-point advantage over the Flying Fleet. Barton closed the run with an ace from V. Mandilaris to take a 17-6 lead. Following a kill from Lord, the Bulldogs found themselves with a 23-12 lead in the set but would have to hold off a furious rally from the Flying Fleet before winning the set. Erskine went on a 3-0 run to cut the deficit to 23-15 before a service error put BC within a point of clinching the set. Erskine rallied again with three consecutive points to cut the gap to 24-18. A kill from Fiorentino gave BC the 25-18 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Erskine erased an early 2-0 deficit in the third set to take its first lead of the match as Hermida tallied a kill for the Flying Fleet. The Bulldogs would quickly even the score and use a 5-0 run in the process to take back the momentum and a 7-3 lead. Trailing 22-16, the Flying Fleet pieced together consecutive points to pull within four points of the Bulldogs. A service error by Erskine started the final rally for Barton as a block from Brkovic, Lord, and Fiorentino followed by an attack error sealed the 25-18 win and sweep of the Flying Fleet.
Barton heads to Bristol, Tenn. to face the University of Mount Olive on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Bulldogs and Trojans squared-off twice during the regular season with BC coming away with a pair of victories. Stay tuned to www.bartonbulldogs.com for updated links as the weekend approaches.
