ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – The Barton men's volleyball team (2-1) picked up its first two victories of the season – 3-0 over St. Thomas Aquinas (0-3) and 3-2 over Sacred Heart (0-4) – Saturday on the final day of the Battle for the Boardwalk at Harrah's Resort & Casino.
Barton 3, St. Thomas Aquinas 0
The Bulldogs won over the Spartans by scores of 26-24, 25-20 and 25-18 for their first triumph of the season. Barton senior outside hitter
Brandon Johnston (Hawkes Bay, NEW ZEALAND) led the way with a match-high 13 kills while junior setter
Seth Deppe (Mukwonago, Wisc.) added 25 assists as the Bulldogs limited the Spartans to a .118 hitting percentage in the win.
St. Thomas Aquinas was paced by Nicholas Santos (Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL) with 12 kills and Kryan Versteegen (Sittard, NETHERLANDS) with 20 digs in the setback.
Barton 3, Sacred Heart 2
The Bulldogs were able to outlast the Pioneers by scores of 25-23, 25-23, 21-25, 21-25 and 15-8 thanks to team-high 10 kills each from Johnston and junior middle blocker
Ben Wiechert (Suffolk, Va.).
Deppe added 34 assists and the Bulldogs finished with 10 service aces in the win. The Pioneers lost despite 14 and 13 kills from Patrick Mucherino (Oxford, Conn.) and Carter Lyons (Hinsdale, Ill.), respectively.
Barton will not compete again until Friday, January 26, when the Bulldogs travel to Virginia Beach, Va., to compete in the Virginia Wesleyan Invitational starting with Randolph-Macon at 7:00 p.m.
