Adam Miracle recorded three of his team-high 11 kills during Mount Olive's final four points of the contest and Renzo Rossato had a kill on match point as the Trojans opened the 2013 season with a 28-26, 25-21, 26-24 victory over King in Conference Carolinas men's volleyball Thursday at Bristol, Tenn. The Trojans made a winner of first-year head coach David Heller in his coaching debut.
Mount Olive (1-0 overall, 1-0 Conference Carolinas) trailed by as many as three points in the final set before Andreas Langler's back row kill capped a 3-0 Trojan run to tie the set 16-16. Mount Olive built a three-point lead of its own, but King came back with five unanswered points to go on top 23-21.
Richard Hesse's kill ended King's run and back-to-back kills by Miracle gave Mount Olive its first match point. King (0-1, 0-1) stayed alive on Stephen Brown's kill, but Miracle's kill gave the Trojans another match point. Miracle served for the match and Rossato sealed the win with his seventh kill of the contest.
In the first set, Ben Casado's kill followed back-to-back King errors as Mount Olive built a 20-16 lead. King scored four of the next five points, highlighted by a kill and a block apiece by Adrian Lopez and Eddie Moushikhian, and the Tornado went on to take a 24-23 lead.
Mount Olive saved one set point on a King service error and after a side out, Lewis Einarson's kill saved a second set point. The two teams traded side outs before Miracle closed out the opening set with a kill and a solo block.
Mount Olive capitalized on three Tornado errors to jump out to a 6-2 advantage in the second set and the Trojans led the entire set. Mount Olive built its biggest lead at 21-16 on a block by Einarson and Rossato. The Trojans scored their final two points of the set on King service errors.
Both teams struggled with their serve Thursday. Mount Olive had 11 service errors and Alex Rivero recorded the Trojans' only service ace. King had six aces, but committed 19 service errors.
Andreas Lengler finished with nine kills for Mount Olive, while Einarson added seven kills and a match-high five blocks. Einarson and Rossato each committed only one error apiece and combined for a .571 hitting percentage. Rossato also recorded four blocks. The Trojans finished with a .261 hitting percentage as a team.
Ben Casado recorded 29 assists in his first match at setter for the Trojans. Lengler and Dan Arnold shared match-high honors with seven digs each.
Brown led all players with 12 kills for King, while Michael Koebel added nine kills and seven digs. Ashton Kippenstiel led all players with four aces.
Mount Olive remains in Bristol to face Quincy (Ill.) in a non-conference match-up Friday afternoon. The Trojans dropped both meetings last year, in four sets at Kornegay Arena and in five sets at Quincy. Match time is 5 p.m.