Box score
GAFFNEY, S.C. --- Chad Mercado (Orlando, Fla.)
posted a match-high 15 kills, and the Lees-McRae College men's
volleyball team rallied from a two-frame deficit to defeat
Limestone College in an epic five-set thriller on Wednesday night
in Conference Carolinas action.
Lees-McRae (6-6, 2-1 CC) posted its second straight conference
win, tallying 11 team blocks while holding Limestone (5-5, 0-3 CC)
to a .187 attacking percentage on the night. The Bobcats won the
match by scores of 19-25, 12-25, 25-13, 28-26, and 15-13.
Mercado paced the Bobcats with 15 kills, but the story of the
night for Lees-McRae was freshman Eduardo Gonzales (San Juan,
Puerto Rico), who tallied 11 kills, nine digs, and five blocks in
the contest. Fellow rookie Chris Flood (Louisville, Ky.) also
notched nine kills, while Randy Ramirez (Guaynabo, Puerto Rico)
tallied four blocks and a match-high 42 assists. John Lucas
(Cincinnati, Ohio) chipped in eight kills and five blocks, as Matt
Harpenau (Cincinnati, Ohio) posted a match-high six stuffs.
Kevin Hart (Menifee, Calif.) and Scott Schweihofer (Marysville,
Mich.) paced Limestone with 14 and 13 kills, respectively, as Hart
notched a double-double with a match-high 13 digs. Andrew Pile
(Macungi, Pa.) notched 32 assists, nine digs, and five blocks,
while Danny Gruszczyk (Orlando, Fla.) chipped in 11 digs.
Limestone jumped out to an early 8-5 lead in the first set, and
after Lees-McRae cut the margin to 11-9 on a block by Harpenau and
Ramirez, pushed the advantage to 18-11 with a 7-2 run that was
capped by back-to-back aces by Schweihofer. The Bobcats answered
with a 7-4 run of their own, trimming the margin to 22-18 before
Limestone closed out the set with a 3-1 spurt.
Neither team held more than a two-point advantage in the second
set before Limestone took command, launching a 14-2 run to take a
24-11 lead on a Bobcat miscue. The Saints then closed out the
second set win with a Pile kill to claim a 2-0 lead in the
match.
Lees-McRae responded in impressive fashion in the third set,
opening the frame with a 10-2 run before Limestone answered with a
5-0 spurt to cut the margin to 10-7. The Bobcats countered with an
11-4 run, claiming a 21-11 advantage on a block by Lucas and
Mercado before closing out the 25-13 victory to cut the match
margin to 2-1.
The Bobcats showed tremendous poise in the fourth set,
overcoming several late Limestone runs en route to a 28-26 win to
even the match at 2-2 on a decisive block by Lucas and Ramirez. The
fifth and deciding set proved to be a tightly contested one, with
neither team opening more than a two-point lead as Lees-McRae took
the frame and the contest on a Saints service error on
match-point.
Lees-McRae returns to the court on Thursday when the Bobcats
travel to Takoma Park, Md. for a 7 p.m. matchup with Washington
Adventist University on the second leg of their road trip.
- LMC -
