Banner Elk, NC--A young Bobcat team added two wins to its record
Saturday afternoon in men's volleyball action in a tri-match held
at Williams Gymnasium. The Bobcats gritted out a five game win
over the 19-3 Philadelphia Biblical Institute in the first match of
the day. Philadelphia Biblical Institute then rebounded, taking a
3-0 (30-26, 30-26, 31-29) win over King College (Bristol, TN). The
Bobcats returned to the floor for the last match of the day to
decisively defeat King College 3-0. With the wins, Lees-McRae
improves it record to 6-13 for the year.
MATCH ONE
LMC 3 Philadelphia Bible Institute 2
(30-19, 30-23, 27-30, 24-30, 15-10)
The Bobcats came out firing in game one hitting an impressive
.500 as a team and continued to put pressure on PBI in game two,
setting themselves up with a 2-0 lead heading into the third game.
Proven winners through the course of the season, the Crimson Eagles
came into the third game determined to change the momentum of the
match and grabbed a 30-27 victory. PBI, with a more veteran team,
carried the momentum gained in game three over to game four this
time defeating the Bobcats by six points (30-24) to force the match
to a fifth game.
In game five the Bobcats proved that they have gained experience
this season and, although down 8-6 at the switch, clawed their way
back into the game tying the score at 10-10 before Ian
Bryner (Miramar, FL) served the last five points of the match
to give the Bobcats the 15-10 win.
After the game Coach Jamie Petrik commented, "We came out very
strong and then the momentum shifted a lot in game 3. I thought our
guys did a great job of fighting in game 5 and Ian's last serves
were very strong."
Leaders for the Bobcats included Colin
Kelly (Orlando, FL) who slammed down 27 kills along with a .409
hitting percentage, a block solo and six block assists and Shane
Holderby (Virginia Beach, VA) with 46 assists and three crucial
aces. Junior Ryan
Black (Escondido, CA) and freshman Robert
Ritchie (Hollywood, FL) each had six block assists while adding
ten and seven kills respectively. Ritchie and classmate Juan
Ramirez (Miami, FL) each had seven digs while Kyle
Gauger (Penfield, NY) added five.
MATCH TWO
LMC 3 King 0
(30-17, 30-23, 30-20)
In their second match of the day the Bobcats came out fired up to
play, dominating the Tornado 30-17 in the first game. The second
game, though somewhat closer, proved to be much the same with the
Bobcats coming out on top 30-23. Lees-McRae then showed
consistency and an ability to maintain their attack when they
finished off King 30-20 completing the three game sweep over the
Tornado.
"I thought we did a great job of keeping our composure against
King. We finally are learning how to get leads and finish games.
The guys played hard," said Coach Petrik after the Bobcats second
win of the day.
Robert Ritchie was an impact player on both the offensively and
defensively with seven kills, a block solo, two block assists and
four digs in the contest. Colin Kelly hit .607 for the match and
added another 19 kills while Ryan Black, hitting .615, had nine
kills and two block assists. Shane Holderby had 37 assists and
served up three aces. Freshman Chad
Mercado (Orlando, FL) had two block assists along with two aces
for the match.
The Bobcats will resume play the weekend of March 28-29 when
they host the Lees-McRae Classic. LMC will face Missouri Baptist
Friday evening, then will take on Warner Southern on Saturday.
Pictured: Ian Bryner
