GREENVILLE, S.C. – The 2026 Conference Carolinas Men’s Volleyball Championship started with a pair of quarterfinal contests on Wednesday night. Hosts Lees-McRae College and North Greenville University won their quarterfinal matches to advance to the semifinals.
Third seed Lees-McRae got off to a hot start, hitting .444 to win the opening set 25-20 over sixth seed Emmanuel University. The Lions, however, bounced back to hit .435 in their 25-18 second-set win. Nevertheless, Lees-McRae won the final two sets 25-22 and 25-18 behind a stout defense to take the match 3-1.
Davide Nicolini led Lees-McRae with 14 kills and six digs while Ben Fincham followed with 12 kills. Abdiranhman Ahmed handed out 40 assists and Ben Ratliff-Becher added 12 digs. Aidan Feeney led Emmanuel with 15 kills and eight digs.
Lees-McRae advances to take on second-seeded University of Mount Olive on Saturday in the second semifinal in Belmont, North Carolina at 7:30 p.m.
Fifth seed Barton College jumped out to an early lead, hitting .308 I their opening set 25-23 win. However, the fourth-seeded Trailblazers improved on both sides of the ball, hitting better than .300 in two of the final three sets and posted a .289 clip in the second set. On the defensive side, North Greenville held Barton to a hitting percentage under .100 in the second and third sets and .147 in the fourth. North Greenville won the final three set 25-18, 25-19 and 25-23 to take the match 3-1.
Yoriano Velez Vega led North Greenville with 22 kills, a .372 attack percentage, six blocks and five digs. Thomas Roper added 14 kills and 12 digs while Andrew Copp added 50 assists and seven digs. Barton was led by 16 kills and nine digs from Jacob Martinez.
North Greenville advances to take on top seed and final site host Belmont Abbey College at 5:00 p.m. in Belmont, North Carolina.
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2026 Conference Carolinas Men’s Volleyball Championship
Quarterfinals – Wednesday, April 15 (at higher seed)
No. 3 Lees-McRae def. No. 6 Emmanuel, 3-1
BOX SCORE
No. 4 North Greenville def. No. 5 Barton, 3-1
BOX SCORE
Semifinals – Saturday, April 18 (Wheeler Center, Belmont, N.C.)
No. 1 Belmont Abbey vs. No. 4 North Greenville, 5:00 p.m.
No. 2 Mount Olive vs. No. 3 Lees-McRae, 7:30 p.m.
Final – Sunday, April 19 (Wheeler Center, Belmont, N.C.)
Winner of Semifinal No. 1 vs. Winner of Semifinal No. 2, 3:00 p.m.