The Conference Carolinas has been underway for several weeks now and has created a great conference race at the top between a trio of schools. All are unbeaten through five matches, but that will come to a crashing end this week with some conflict among the top three. It should be the first glimpse into which of those truly does have the edge, as all of them were preseason picks to collect top three finishes and have lived up to the billing thus far.
With new story-lines emerging and a new season of sorts in league play commencing, VolleyMob will be giving conference updates. Below is analysis as well as the weekly Conference Carolinas table, awards, matches of the week and power rankings:
CONFERENCE CAROLINAS TABLE:
| TEAM | CONF. | OVERALL |
| (RV) King | 5-0 | 8-2 |
| Mount Olive | 5-0 | 8-3 |
| Barton | 5-0 | 7-6 |
| North Greenville | 3-4 | 7-8 |
| Belmont Abbey | 3-4 | 4-8 |
| Emmanuel | 2-4 | 4-8 |
| Limestone | 2-5 | 4-11 |
| Erskine | 1-5 | 2-9 |
| Lees-McRae | 0-4 | 2-9 |
WEEKLY HONORS:
- VolleyMob Player of the Week (Robert Poole, Mount Olive)
- VolleyMob Honorable Mention POTW (Matthew McManaway, NGU)
- Conference Carolinas Weekly Awards
MATCHES OF THE WEEK:
- Feb. 20: Limestone at (RV) King
- Feb. 21: North Greenville at Belmont Abbey
- Feb. 21: Barton at Mount Olive
- Feb. 22: Erskine at Emmanuel
- Feb. 23: (RV) King at Mount Olive
VOLLEYMOB CONFERENCE CAROLINAS POWER RANKINGS:
- King
- Barton
- Mount Olive
- North Greenville
- Emmanuel
- Belmont Abbey
- Limestone
- Erskine
- Lees-McRae
THREE-TEAM RACE
- (RV) King Tornado
King, a team who came in a tie with Barton for the regular season crown last year, has been the most impressive of the three unbeaten teams thus far and are on the cusp in the latest VolleyMob Top 20 Power Rankings. They have the top offense thus far (which is closely followed by Barton) and combine it with the top block and serve in the league. That combination makes King the choice for Conference Carolinas favorite at the moment, although it’s obviously a close race that could change this week.
- Mount Olive Trojans
Mount Olive has one of the top tier offenses in the Conference Carolinas as well, but its a step behind Barton and King. They more than make up for it with a stellar serve and good floor defense – both of which will be critical in this week’s matches against the other two undefeated opponents. It will mainly come down to their serve, and if they can keep it in play and put the opposition out of system, they have enough offense themselves to earn the victories and heavily impose themselves on the league title race.
- Barton Bulldogs
Barton plays more of a terminal game than Mount Olive and King, as they don’t have quite the floor defense but mix a talented attack with a solid block. They’ll suffer through some errors of their own, but they know how to play through them and won’t let that be too much of an issue as long as they are getting enough rewards to go with their risk. They’re the defending league winner too (in both regular and post-season), so never doubt the heart of a champion.
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