WILSON, N.C. – The Barton men's volleyball team (0-4) came up on the short end to Merrimack (1-3), 3-1, Saturday afternoon at Wilson Gymnasium.
The Warriors, who picked up their first victory of the year, defeated the Bulldogs by scores of 25-22, 19-25, 25-23 and 25-20.
Merrimack showed tremendous balance on offense with five or more players with at least 10 kills on the day. Four players – Miles Dewhirst (Fallbrook, Calif.), Logan Whitaker (West Palm Beach, Fla.), Xander Thesz (Gilbert, Arizona) and Matthew Motes (Gilbert, Ariz.) – all finished with 11 kills for the match.
Carson Bashford (Gilbert, Ariz.) added 48 assists for the Warriors, who limited the Bulldogs to a .117 hitting percentage for the afternoon.
Barton was led by sophomore outside hitter
Brandon Johnston (Hawkes Bay, NEW ZEALAND) with a match-high 19 kills to go along with nine digs while senior setter
Moses Kresch (Hershey, Pa.) added 26 assists and 11 digs for a double-double despite the setback. In addition, Kresch became the third player in school history to cross the 1,000-assist mark for his career.
Barton hosts Hawaii, the defending national champion and top-ranked team in the nation, next Saturday night, January 28, at 7:30 p.m., while Merrimack faces Queens in Charlotte, N.C., Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
