Another day of important ball occurred – mainly in the Conference Carolinas – as the season comes to its close in the regular season soon. At the forefront was Barton and King – the two titans of the league – who had matches prior to their head-to-head clash where they both won in setting up a clash for first place.
Charleston Def. Alderson-Broaddus 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-18)
- Charleston 13-8 (3-7 EIVA); Alderson Broaddus 3-18
- Box Score
- Charleston Press Release
- ABU Press Release
In a dip out-of-league play, Charleston took down Alderson-Broaddus as they try to get rolling again – like they were early in the season – to earn a spot in the EIVA Tournament soon. The defense has been solid throughout the year, but it was important for Charleston to get a .256 hitting match to pair with eight blocks in the victory. Anthony Rivera (31 assists) had a strong match in starting up that attack, as he found four different options for six or more kills and five for four or more.
(RV) Barton Def. Mount Olive 3-1 (25-21, 21-25, 25-18, 25-19)
- (RV) Barton 18-6 (14-0 Conf. Carolinas); Mount Olive 14-11 (10-4 Conf. Carolinas)
- Box Score
- Barton Press Release
- UMO Press Release
With the match against King sitting ahead, this could have been a bit of a trap game for Barton. They proved it wasn’t, as they earned a solid four-set victory over the league’s third-place team – eliminating Mount Olive from title contention and from the two seed. It was an onslaught of UMO aces (12), but Barton was still able to provide an efficient attack that hit .315. Their block was also strong in slowing UMO as they remained unbeaten in Conference Carolinas action with the meeting ahead against King.
Erskine Def. Emmanuel 3-2 (25-27, 25-14, 33-31, 29-31, 15-9)
- Erskine 7-17 (4-10 Conf. Carolinas); Emmanuel 9-15 (5-10 Conf. Carolinas)
- Box Score
- Erskine Press Release
Erskine downed Emmanuel in a great five set match where three of the sets went to extra points. The result is even less separation in the middle of the Conference Carolinas, as six through eight all have 10 losses while four through eight are all within two wins of each other. The difference for Erskine in the match was likely the serve that led to a 9-4 ace advantage as both teams scuffled a bit offensively in a back-and-forth match.
King Def. Limestone 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-20)
- King 17-5 (13-1 Conf. Carolinas); Limestone 8-17 (5-10 Conf. Carolinas)
- Box Score
- King Press Release
- Limestone Press Release
With Barton taking down Mount Olive, it was once again essential for King to win to stay with the Bulldogs’ pace. They did so by downing Limestone in straight sets, as now King can look ahead to facing Barton in trying to pull into a first-place tie. For Limestone, they drop down into the three-team conglomerate in the six to eight spots in the standings – an importance placement for teams not wanting to play King or Barton in the Conference Carolinas quarterfinals. That all happened because the Tornado were great in serve receive, disallowing Limestone from any serve aces en route to a .307 hitting day behind Jeff Sprayberry (16 kills, .414).
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