WILSON, N.C. --- Sophomores John Sobel and Keenan Freitas set personal season-highs in kills and digs, respectively, but the Lees-McRae men's volleyball team fell short in a valiant comeback effort, 12-25, 16-25, 25-21, 25-22, 13-15 at Barton in Conference Carolinas action Saturday afternoon at Wilson Gymnasium in Wilson, N.C.
The Bulldogs (11-14, 9-6 CC) swung better than .320 in four sets while a quartet of players recorded double digit kills. The Bobcats (2-13, 1-10) rallied from two sets down to force a fifth set and Brady Markle (York, Pa.) registered his 12th double-digit kill effort.
Sobel (Holbrook, N.Y.) was a dominant force all day with a season-high 16 kills and a remarkable seven service aces.
BC came out of the gates with a 7-0 run while Tanner Medina and Ben Kasun earned a pair of block assists each during the spurt.
The Bobcats never got their baring's despite a pair of kills from Mark Shayka (Hamilton, Va.).
The Bulldogs polished off the set with a kill from Pierre Tang-Taye.
Tang-Taye racked up 11 kills while Brennan O'Connor paced the team with 12.
Both offenses were beyond efficient while BC swung at a match-high .685 clip.
LMC amassed 11 kills and hit .292.
The Bulldogs used a 5-0 run to create some separation in the second set and used a trio of J. Novoa-Miralles kills to grab the set.
Sobel caught a groove at the serving line and placed two service aces and added a kill while LMC took advantage of an 8-3 run to lead, 19-14.
Freitas (Moutain View, Hawaii) and Shayka stuffed a Michael Perez attack to keep the lead at five before consecutive kills from Markle concluded third set action.
Freitas finished with a season-high 17 digs.
Sobel continued his impressive play with five aces in the fourth, allowing LMC to build an 11-2 lead.
The Bulldogs responded with a 19-12 run to shave the deficit to two, 23-21, but LMC would stave off the rally thanks to a bad set from BC's Tanner Medina and kill from Markle.
Markle finished with 25 kills on the day.
Tang-Taye cranked out three kills while BC scooted out to an 8-3 lead in the fifth.
Junior Drew Blecher (York, Pa.) dished out two of his 31 assists to spark a quick 3-0 LMC run.
Both teams would exchange blows while the Bobcats go it to within one on three occasions, but a kill from Chad Stanback Jr. gave BC the win.
LMC returns to action Wednesday, March 25 when it hosts Erskine at 7 p.m. in Conference Carolinas action in Banner Elk, N.C.
- LMC -
