Box score
BANNER ELK, N.C. --- The Mount Olive College
men's volleyball team recorded 10.5 blocks and a .309 hitting
percentage en route to a three-set sweep of Lees-McRae College on
Saturday afternoon in Conference Carolinas play.
Mount Olive (6-2, 2-0 CC) won the match by scores of 25-20,
25-22, and 25-20 as it held Lees-McRae (4-6, 0-1 CC) to a .165
hitting percentage. Chad Mercado (Orlando, Fla.) led the way for
the Bobcats with a match-high 16 kills, while Randy Ramirez
(Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) paced LMC with a contest-best 34 assists
and Juan Ramirez (Miami, Fla.) chipped in eight digs.
Angel Dache (La Habana, Cuba) posted a team-high 11 kills to
pace Mount Olive, as John David Nunns (Fayetteville, N.C.) recorded
a match-best seven blocks. Adam Miracle (Cincinnati, Ohio) chipped
in seven kills for the Trojans, while Jarvis Karchewski (Calgary,
Alberta, Canada) paced Mount Olive with 30 assists. Benedikt
Schirmers (Rottenburg, Germany) also recorded a match-high nine
digs.
Mount Olive started off strong, opening an early 12-6 lead in
the first set on a Schirmers kill. The Bobcats would stay within
striking distance, cutting the margin to 19-16 on back-to-back
kills by Chris Flood (Louisville, Ky.) before the Trojans answered
by closing out the 25-20 win with a 6-4 spurt.
The second set proved to be the most tightly contested of the
match, with neither team holding more than a two-point advantage
until the waning moments, when Mount Olive launched a 7-4 run to
close out the frame on a Miracle kill.
Lees-McRae refused to cede an easy victory to the Trojans in the
third set, battling back from an early 6-1 deficit to take an 11-10
lead on an emphatic kill by Mercado. The Bobcats would push the
lead to 13-11 on a block by Flood and John Lucas (Cincinnati, Ohio)
before Mount Olive responded, countering with a 7-2 run to claim an
18-15 lead on a Dache kill. Lees-McRae fought back once again,
trimming the margin to 21-19 on a Mercado kill before Mount Olive
quelled the rally with a 4-1 spurt to close out the match.
Lees-McRae returns to the court on Tuesday when the Bobcats host
King College (Tenn.) to continue their conference schedule. First
serve is slated for 7 p.m. in Williams Gymnasium.
- LMC -
