MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – Angel Dache recorded 11 of his 22 kills in the final two sets and Mount Olive rallied from a six-point deficit in the fourth set as the Trojans remained unbeaten in conference play and extended their winning streak to 13 with a 25-22, 22-25, 18-25, 25-19, 15-10 victory over Limestone in Conference Carolinas men's volleyball Saturday at Kornegay Arena. Lewis Einarson served two of his three aces near the end of the fourth set to contribute to the Trojans' comeback.
Mount Olive (19-3 overall, 13-0 Conference Carolinas) appeared to be headed to its first conference loss of the season as the Trojans lost the second and third sets, and trailed 14-8 in the fourth set. The Trojans chipped away at the lead and after a double block by Einarson and Alex Rivero, and an ace by Ben Cassado, Mount Olive tied the set 17-17. The set was still tied 19-19 when the Trojans took over.
After Rivero's kill broke the tie, Dache and Tim Ebbecke combined on double blocks on the next two points. Einarson followed with back-to-back aces and Dache's kill on set point evened the match at two sets apiece and sent the contest to a deciding fifth set.
Dache had two kills and a block as Mount Olive jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the fifth set and completed a 23-5 run after trailing by six in the previous set. Limestone rallied as three kills by Eric Zaun pulled the Saints within 9-7. Adam Miracle, who didn't start the fifth set for Mount Olive, came off the bench for a kill on the left side and a block with Ebbecke on the left side to stretch the Trojans' lead to four.
Limestone cut the lead to two again, but could get no closer as Dache answered with two straight kills. After a Limestone side out, Einarson recorded a kill to set up match point at 14-10. Dache closed out the match with his 22nd kill.
Rivero finished with 15 kills for Mount Olive, while Einarson and Mircale added nine kills apiece. Ebbecke had eight blocks and Einarson and Rivero tallied four blocks apiece. Cassado recorded 54 assists and Dan Arnold had eight digs. Dache notched a double-double with 11 digs.
Zaun shared match-high honors with 22 kills for Limestone, while Andrew Miller added 10 kills. Miller narrowly missed his own double-double with a match-high nine blocks. Setter Andrew Pyle had 46 assists and 13 digs.
Saturday's contest, Mount Olive's first at Kornegay Arena in nearly a month, began a four-match homestand for the Trojans. Mount Olive plays host to Rutgers-Newark Tuesday in non-conference action. Match time is 7 p.m.