Photo Credit to Morgan Corbett
BANNER ELK, N.C. --- Juniors Mark Shayka and John Sobel delivered nine kills apiece and Drew Blecher closed his career out with a 16-assist performance while the Lees-McRae men's volleyball fell to Belmont Abbey, 17-25, 16-25, 22-25 in Conference Carolinas play Tuesday evening at Williams Gymnasium in Banner Elk, N.C.
The Crusaders (17-10, 11-7 CC) locked up the No. 4 seed in the Conference Carolinas Men's Volleyball Tournament behind an 11-kill effort from Nolan Albrecht. The Bobcats (1-25, 0-18) saw junior Keenan Freitas (Hilo, Hawaii) dig nine balls.
Blecher (York, Pa.) finished his career with 1,441 assists and 49 block assists.
BAC jumped out to an 11-3 lead in the first following a pair of block assists from Dustin Buell and Jon Lowenhagen.
The Bobcats cut the deficit to five, 15-10, after Rudy Klaas (Dakar, Senegal) stuffed a Buell attack.
Hector Serviat (Miami, Fla.) and Shayka (Hamilton, Va.) recorded kills as part of a 4-0 run, 21-16.
BAC claimed four of the next five points to win the set.
Strong play from Sobel (Holbrook, N.Y.) and a pair of kills from Jack Frank (Virginia Beach, Va.) gave LMC a 10-8 advantage in the second.
The Crusaders responded with a 17-6 run to close out the set.
LMC grabbed a 14-10 lead after a trio of kills from Sobel and a pair of block assists from Sobel and Frank.
BAC rallied back to knot it at 20 following a kill from Albrecht.
The Crusaders would end the match on a 5-2 run.
Sobel paced the 2016 squad with 281 kills and 26 aces while Freitas amassed 219 digs.
- LMC -
