Mount Olive honored its five seniors and the seniors responded with the team's school record 21st win of the season and third regular season conference title as the Trojans defeated King 25-19, 25-15, 25-13 in Conference Carolinas Men's Volleyball Friday at Kornegay Arena. The win extended Mount Olive's winning streak to 15 and kept the Trojans unbeaten in conference play.
Seniors Dan Arnold, Tim Ebbecke, Adam Miracle, Alex Rivero and Giora Sela all started and played the entire match.
Mount Olive (21-3 overall, 14-0 Conference Carolinas) was locked in a 16-16 tie in the first set before a pair of blocks by Sela and Angel Dache highlighted a 4-0 run to put the Trojans ahead to stay. Dache ended the set with three consecutive aces.
The Trojans broke away from a two-point lead in the second set as a pair of blocks by Ebbecke, along with blocks by Miracle and Sela, contributed to an 8-3 run and gave the Trojans a 17-10 lead. A kill by Rivero gave Mount Olive its first double-digit lead at 24-14 and after a King side out, another kill by Rivero gave the Trojans a two-set lead.
King (9-16, 4-9) forged eight ties in the third set and trailed only 10-9 after a solo block by setter Ashton Hippenstiel. But Mount Olive outscored King 15-4 the rest of the way, including a seven-point run to build a 19-10 lead. The Trojans capped the win with a block by Sela and Dache on match point.
Mount Olive finished with 14 blocks as a team, as Sela matched a career high with eight blocks. Dache added six blocks, while Ebbecke and Ben Casado finished with five blocks apiece.
Dache led a balanced Trojan attack with 10 kills and four aces, while Rivero added nine kills and Miracle had six kills. Miracle, who announced during the senior recognition ceremony as the Trojans' all-time kills leader, now has 919 career kills.
Arnold, the Trojans' libero, finished with a match-high eight digs and broke his own school single-season record. Arnold, who recorded 217 digs in 2012, currently has 222 digs. He was announced as Mount Olive's all-time digs leader and increased his record career total to 522.
Stephen Brown led King with seven kills.
Mount Olive had clinched the No. 1 seed and at least a share of the regular season conference title Tuesday when Pfeiffer fell to Lees-McRae. The Trojans get a first round bye in the Conference Carolinas Tournament and will host a semifinal-round match April 10 at Kornegay Arena.
Mount Olive returns to action Tuesday as the Trojans play host to Pfeiffer in a battle of the top two seeds in the Conference Carolinas Tournament. Pfeiffer has clinched the No. 2 seed and will play host to the other semifinal-round match. The Trojans defeated the Falcons in five sets in the first meeting February 20 at Pfeiffer. Match time is 7 p.m. at Kornegay Arena.