Adam Miracle delivered 21 kills and Alex Rivero added 14, leading the Trojans to their seventh consecutive victory 25-23, 25-23, 20-25, 25-22 over Lees-McRae in Conference Carolinas men's volleyball Friday night in Banner Elk, N.C. The Trojans rallied late in each of the first two sets to put the pressure on their hosts, then led from start to finish in the clincher.
Mount Olive (13-12 Overall, 5-2 Conference Carolinas) moved into a second place tie with Limestone in the Eastern Division on the strength of a .446 attack percentage. The Trojans had only 13 attack errors in the four sets.
In the opener, the Trojans were behind throughout. After falling behind 16-13, the Trojans returned from a timeout and reeled off seven of the next nine points. The Trojans pulled even and 17-17 and 18-18 before going ahead for good on kills by Tim Ebbecke, Rivero and Miracle. The Bobcats (8-7, 3-3) got within a point three times before a Miracle kill ended the game.
In the second set, the Trojans again found themselves behind 16-13 after a kill by Jose Ribas. Mount Olive responded with an Ebbecke kill, followed by three Lees-McRae attack errors to take a 17-16 advantage.
The Bobcats regained the advantage 23-22 on two service errors by the Trojans and a kill by John Lucas. Mount Olive came back with kills by Rivero, Ebbecke and Miracle to take a 2-0 lead.
In the finale, the teams fought back and forth much of the game before a pair of kills by Rivero gave his team the lead for good.
Another Lucas kill closed the gap to 22-21 before kills by Rivero and Lukas Hoelzl closed out the match.
Ebbecke added 10 kills and three blocks for the Trojans, while Jackson Metichechhia added 46 assists. Dan Arnold led the team with 16 digs.
Matt Harpenau led the Bobcats with 17 kills, while Randy Ramirez had 52 assists.
Mount Olive will try to extend its winning streak Saturday when the Trojans compete in a tri-meet in Bristol, Tenn. At 1 p.m., Mount Olive will face Mount St. Joseph, then will play King College in a Conference Carolinas match at 3 p.m.