BELMONT, N.C. --- Lees-McRae's Brady Markle delivered a dozen kills, but the men's volleyball fell in their season finale 19-25, 24-26, 18-25 to Belmont Abbey in a Conference Carolinas match Tuesday evening at the Wheeler Center in Belmont, N.C.
The Crusaders (13-13, 9-9 CC) hit a match-high .321 in the opening set while Nolan Albrecht led the team with 12 kills on the day. The Bobcats' (3-19, 2-16) Markle (York, Pa.) concluded his storied career at LMC and amassed 842 kills in 68 matches.
BAC used a pair of Brandon Kimbrell kills to grab an early 6-2 lead.
LMC's John Sobel (Holbrook, N.Y.) delivered three of his nine kills, sparking an 11-6 run while the Bobcats took a 13-12 lead.
The Crusaders responded with a 13-6 run to grab the first set.
Sophomore Mark Shayka (Hamilton, Va.) got off to a solid start in the second with a trio of kills and a service ace, allowing the Bobcats to take a 13-9 lead.
Markle collected a pair of kills before consecutive BAC attack errors gave LMC a 22-19 advantage.
Tied at 22, junior Drew Blecher (York, Pa.) dished out consecutive assists to Markle, putting LMC on the brink of grabbing the set. However, the Crusaders responded with a 4-0 run to take a two sets-to-none lead.
The Bobcats struggled in the final set and fell victim to a 4-0 run while BAC took a 16-11 lead.
The Crusaders kept the visiting squad at arm's length and would eventually complete the sweep with an Anthony Pippen kill.
Blecher paved the way with a match-high 28 assists. Sophomore Keenan Freitas (Mountain View, Hawaii) led both teams with seven digs.
- LMC -
