It was a mixed bag of results Friday evening as No. 15 Pepperdine and vote-getter Lindenwood picked up road victories, while homestanding Mount Olive and Barton came out on top in Conference Carolinas action.
MATCH STATS
- Barton def. Erskine 3-1 (25-17, 25-15, 23-25, 25-18)
- Barton moves to 1-5; Erskine falls to 0-5
- Wilson, North Carolina
- Box Score
- Erskine Recap / Barton Recap
Key Stats: Barton hit .427, while Erskine managed just a .133 effort. The Bulldogs also edged the Flying Fleet 43-41 in kills and 706 in aces. Both teams put up eight blocks. Barton hit .579 in the opening set and .571 in the final stanza.
Stat Leaders: Junior outside Aleksa Brkovic and sophomore right side Angelos Mandilaris led Barton with double-digit kill efforts, turning in 13 and 12 respectively. Brkovic also tallied seven digs, while both served up two aces. Junior middle Justice Lord put up a team-leading three blocks.
Freshman outsides Daniel Hermida (12) and Josh Bragg (10) paced the Erskine attack, while freshman outside Kevin Braceros (8) and sophomore middle Absalon Williams (7) followed. Bragg and Hermida added two aces apiece, while Williams notched a match-high four blocks.
It Was Over When: The Bulldogs raced out to a 9-3 lead in Set 4 as Brkovic notched three kills and a block. Hermida cut the margin to two at 9-7 with a pair of kills. Barton ahead by seven at 18-11 thanks to three Erskine hitting miscues and two Mandilaris putaways. The Flying fleet would get no closer than five the rest of the way. Barton closed out the win at 25-18 vice error and Oscar Fiorentino kill.
MATCH STATS
- Mount Olive def. Emmanuel 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-23)
- Mount Olive moves to 2-3; Emmanuel falls to 2-4
- Mount Olive, N.C.
- Box Score
- Emmanuel Recap / Mount Olive Recap
Key Stats: Emmanuel could not overcome 22 errors and a .056 hitting effort in a sweep at the hands of homestanding Mount Olive on Friday. For their part, the Trojans hit .231 and outblocked the Lions 7-4 and made just 12 hitting errors. Both teams posted four aces.
Stat Leaders: Senior opposite Robert Poole notched a match-high nine kills for Mount Olive, while senior opposite Bret Rutledge, junior outside Brad Monaghan and freshman middle Jerell Rogers rounded out a balanced attack with six putdowns each. Rogers hit at a .625 clip and put up two solo stuffs alongside senior setter Jeff Yasalonis, who also chipped in two aces.
Sophomore outside Manuel Melanciano downed seven kills, but also made seven miscues, while pulling up six digs and adding two aces. Four other players registered four or more kills: sophomore outside Aleksa Lakic (5), sophomore middle Don Thompson (5), senior middle Ackeem West (5) and sophomore middle Alejandro Robles (4).
It Was Over When: UMO scored seven of the first eight points in Set 3 with help from four Emmanuel miscues. Later trailing 14-8, the Lions rallied to within one at 15-14. Melanciano posted a kill, a block and an ace in the rally. The teams tied at 18 and 19 before Emmanuel grabbed a 21-19 lead with a Maloney/West block and a hitting error. Mount Olive pulled out the win with a final 6-2 run. A Poole putaway and one by Rogers sealed the victory.
MATCH STATS
- #15 Pepperdine def. George Mason 3-0 (25-21, 26-24, 25-14)
- Pepperdine moves to 2-2; George Mason falls to 2-5
- Fairfax, Virginia
- Box Score
- Pepperdine Recap / George Mason Recap
Key Stats: The Waves hit .370, including three players over .400, in a road sweep of GMU. Pepperdine outdid the Patriots 46-31 in kills, 5-4 in aces and 3-2 in blocks.
Stat Leaders: Redshirt junior outside David Wiesczorek (14), senior outside Alex Harthaller (12) and senior outside Colby Harriman (11) headlined the Pepperdine offense with double-digit kills. Wieczorek served up two of the team’s five aces, while Harthaller just missed a double-double with nine digs.
Redshirt senior outside Christian Malias was tops among the Patriots with 12 kills. Junior outside Kyle Barnes (5) and sophomore outside Sam Greenslade (4) led six other players with two or more putaways. Malias, Greenslade, Barnes and redshirt junior middle Langston Payne posted an ace apiece.
It Was Over When: What began as a close contest at 9-7 Pepperdine turned into a runaway as the Waves scored eight of the next 10 to pull ahead 17-9. Three Patriot errors and two Harthaller kills put the set out of reach as GMU did not get closer than seven the rest of the way. Pepperdine closed out the win with a 4-0 run, including a kill and block each by Harriman and Max Chamberlain.
MATCH STATS
- Lindenwood def. Sacred Heart 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-21)
- Lindenwood moves to 5-2; Sacred Heart falls to 0-3
- Fairfield, Connecticut
- Box Score
- Lindenwood Recap / Sacred Heart Recap
Key Stats: Eight aces and seven more kills (44-37) helped Lindenwood overcome a 12-7 deficit in blocks and a .123 to .119 deficit in hitting efficiency. The Pioneers managed five aces and committed six less errors, but couldn’t come out with the win.
Stat Leaders: Sophomore outside hitter Michael Jennings posted a 12 kill, 10 digs double-double, while hitting at a team-best .320 clip and adding four blocks and two aces to pace Lindenwood to victory. Senior outside Nathan Van Dellen also added 12 kills and six digs. Sophomore middle Sam Schindler followed with six kills and a team-leading four blocks. Junior middle Connor Hipelius chipped in five kills, three blocks and two aces.
Redshirt junior right side Emerson Waumans downed 11 kills and added six blocks to lead Sacred Heart. Freshman outside Shawn Tischler (9), junior outside Blake Cox (7), redshirt junior middle Taylor Bloomquist (5) and sophomore middle Rob Chatterton (4) rounded out the offense. Bloomquist and Chatterton put up five blocks apiece, while Chatterton served up three of the team’s five aces.
It Was Over When: The teams tied 11 times in Set 4, last at 21-all. From there, Lindenwood scored four straight, including two Schindler blocks, to grab the 25-21 win. A hitting error sealed the victory. Sacred Heart led by as many as four in the stanza at 13-9 and were up two late at 17-15, but could not hold on.
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