BELMONT, N.C. – Lees-McRae men's volleyball went head-to-head with No. 4 Belmont Abbey on Tuesday night in the Conference Carolinas Quarterfinals where the Crusaders took the match in three sets.
M.J. Doyle had a double-double with 10 kills and 11 kills and
Bradley Peters had 32 assists and 10 digs in the evening.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Belmont Abbey def. Lees-McRae, 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-23)
LOCATION: Wheeler Center – Belmont, North Carolina
RECORDS: Belmont Abbey (15-15/8-6), Lees-McRae (11-15/7-7)
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Belmont Abbey outhit Lees-McRae .176 to .113 with the two sides even with 36 total kills.
- The Bobcats took the lead in the first set at 16-15 after Ace Backer recorded a service ace. Lees-McRae pushed its lead to 19-16, but Belmont Abbey with five consecutive points and closed the opening set with the 25-22 after a Bobcat service error.
- Belmont Abbey took a 13-8 advantage early in the second set after five straight points, but the Bobcats made things interesting with three consecutive points late after double block by Backer and Michael Marsans. Belmont Abbey took the set at 25-23 after a kill from Alex Winiarczyk.
- Lees-McRae jumped to an early 12-10 advantage in the third set and held the 15-11 lead heading into the media timeout. The Crusaders knotted the set score at 15 apiece and regained the lead at 20-19. With the third set at 23-23, Belmont Abbey collected the last two points and secured the three-set victory over the Bobcats.
- Marsans followed Doyle with nine kills and added seven digs to his season totals. Backer joined his fellow Bobcats with a strong match with seven kills on a hitting percentage of .429 and freshman Austin Beaird registered six kills and five digs.
FOR THE CRUSADERS:
- Matteo Miselli had a match-high 18 kills on a .289 hitting percentage for Belmont Abbey. Ethan Rehman and Jay Beller tallied five kills apiece with Beller having .625 hitting percentage.
- Matthew Staskunas recorded 10 kills along with four kills and four total blocks in the win.
- The Crusaders now advance to the Conference Carolinas Semifinals on Friday, April 21 on the campus of King University.
UP NEXT:
Lees-McRae finishes the season with their most wins in program history since 2014 with an 11-15 overall record and 7-7 in Conference Carolinas contests.
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