DUE WEST, S.C. – The Barton men's volleyball team (0-12, 0-7) fell in a five-set thriller to Erskine (9-14, 3-5), 3-2, Saturday afternoon at Belk Arena in a Conference Carolinas game.
The Flying Fleet won by scores of 25-20, 23-25, 22-25, 25-14 and 15-8 as the home team rallied from a 2-1 deficit to take the fourth and fifth sets in the win.
Erskine was led by Edgerrin Austin (Joilet, Ill.) and Kacper Rybarczyk (Warsaw, POLAND) with 18 kills each while Juan Alcoba (Hollywood, Fla.) dished out 50 assists in the victory. The Flying Fleet hit .280 for the match while limiting the Bulldogs to a .140 hitting percentage in the victory as well.
Barton was spearheaded by sophomore outside hitter
Brandon Johnston (Hawkes Bay, NEW ZEALAND) and freshman middle blocker
Benjamin Wiechert (Suffolk, Va.) with 19 and 18 kills, respectively, while senior setter
Moses Kresch (Hershey, Pa.) added a double-double – 41 assists and 12 digs – in the setback. Johnston leads the team with 161 kills on the season.
Barton returns home to take on North Greenville at Wilson Gymnasium in league action on Friday, March 25, at 7:00 p.m., while Erskine hosts Belmont Abbey next Friday beginning at 7:00 p.m., as well.
