Belmont Abbey, King Advance to Conference Carolinas Men’s Volleyball Championship Semifinals
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BRISTOL, Tenn./BELMONT, N.C. – Fourth-seeded Belmont Abbey and third-seeded King both advanced to the semifinals of the 2023 Conference Carolinas Men’s Volleyball Championship with quarterfinal victories on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
In Belmont, North Carolina, the Crusaders swept the fifth-seeded Bobcats of Lees-McRae, 25-22, 25-23, 25-23, to book their trip to Friday’s semifinals. The first set was a true back-and-forth affair as the teams tied 11 times in the match with neither team able to gain much offensive traction. Things turned toward the home team down the stretch as a service error propelled The Abbey to a 9-3 run, after trailing 19-16, for the 25-22 set one win. Set two was close early before Belmont Abbey opened a five point margin, 15-10. The Bobcats made things interesting down the stretch as they cut the deficit to one, 23-24, before an Alex Winiarczyk kill sealed the win for the Crusaders. In the third set, Lees-McRae was the program that took the early lead and led for most of the set, but Belmont Abbey scored the final three points, after trailing 23-22, for the match victory.
Both teams tallied 14 blocks while LMC collected 42 digs to 39 for BAC. The Crusaders hit .176 in the match compared to the Bobcats .113 mark. Matteo Miselli led all players with 18 kills for Belmont Abbey while M. J. Doyle had a team-best 10 for Lees-McRae. Jay Beller and Matthew Staskunas led the defensive effort at the net for the home team with four blocks each while Ace Baker also had four for Lees-McRae.
In Bristol, Tennessee, sixth-seeded Mount Olive won the first two sets, but championship host and third-seeded King won the final three sets to punch their ticket to the semifinals on Friday, April 21. In set one, the Trojans raced out to a 21-10 lead, which included an 8-0 rally, en route to a dominant, 25-15, opening set win. The Tornado seemed to turn things around in set two as they built an early 6-1 lead and led 23-19. However, a King service error gave Mount Olive the serve and they won the next five points for the 25-23 victory and a 2-0 lead in the match. In set three, King never trailed, but made things interesting, as they led 23-18 and saw the Trojans win the next three points before a Warren Davis kill and a Trojan error gave the Tornado some life with a 25-22 win. In set four, King scored five of the first six points only to see Mount Olive score six of the next seven for a 7-6 lead. The Trojans led for much of the set until a ball handling error at 20-19 tied the score and the home team scored five of the final six points for a 25-21 win to force a fifth set. Mount Olive kept the fifth set close, but King scored four of the first six points and never trailed in the 15-13 win.
King outhit Mount Olive .195 to .181 in the match but the Trojans had more kills (58-57), more aces (5-2) and more blocks (11-8) than the home team. Davis led all players with a career-high 26 kills and hit .296 in the win while also adding 12 digs. Setter Jack Sarnowski dished out 52 assists and had 13 digs while Kellan Kennedy led the defense at the net with five block assists. Tate Sandvig paced the Trojans offense with 18 kills while setter Jackson Lahey tallied 50 assists and 10 digs. Trevor Treser, the UMO libero, collected a program-record 32 digs in the loss.
Belmont Abbey advances to face top-seeded North Greenville in the first semifinal on Friday, April 21 at 5 p.m. inside the Student Center Complex on the campus of King. The Tornado will play in the second semifinal at approximately 7:30 p.m. against second-seeded Erskine. The championship final is scheduled for Saturday, April 22 at 6:30 p.m.
Fans can watch every game of the tournament live via the Conference Carolinas Digital Network and BlueFrame at conferencecarolinasdn.com. Information regarding the championship schedule, bracket and the Student Center Complex are available
here.
2023 Conference Carolinas Men’s Volleyball Championship
Quarterfinals – Tuesday, April 18
#3 King def. #6 Mount Olive, 3-2 (Box Score)
#4 Belmont Abbey def. #5 Lees-McRae, 3-0 (Box Score)
Semifinals – Friday, April 21 (King University, Bristol, Tenn.)
#4 Belmont Abbey vs. #1 North Greenville, 5 p.m.
#3 King vs. #2 Erskine, 7:30 p.m.
Final – Saturday, April 22 (King University, Bristol, Tenn.)
Winner of Semifinal #1 vs. Winner of Semifinal #2, 6:30 p.m.