Trojans Advance To Championship Match Of Conference Carolinas Men's Volleyball Tournament

Trojans Advance To Championship Match Of Conference Carolinas Men's Volleyball Tournament

Angel Dache recorded 24 kills and third-seeded Mount Olive won the final two sets for a 29-27, 17-25, 25-21, 25-23 victory over No. 2 seed Pfeiffer in the semifinal round of the 2014 Conference Carolinas Men's Volleyball Tournament Saturday at Misenheimer, N.C. The win vaults the Trojans into the championship match for the fourth time in the five-year history of the conference tournament.

Mount Olive (15-11) will head to Due West, S.C., Wednesday take on top-seeded Erskine in the title match. Match time is 7 p.m. The winner earns an automatic bid to the play-in match for the 2014 NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship.

After splitting the first two sets, the Trojans took advantage of a pair of service errors to break away from a 14-14 tie and build a 22-17 lead as Garrett Dimm had three kills during the run. Pfeiffer (13-12) got as close as 24-21 before Dache's kill on set point No. 3 gave the Trojans the third set.

In the fourth set, an ace by Steven Cruse highlighted 6-2 run to break a 5-5 tie and give Mount Olive a 11-7 lead. The two teams exchanged side outs over the next 19 points until Pfeiffer held serve on a block by Joe Supko and Sonny Hirini. Kills by Supko and Hirini pulled Pfeiffer within 21-20 and the Falcons tied the set 23-23 on Fabio Diniz's kill.

Dache's final kill of the match broke the tie and Lewis Einarson served his lone ace of the night on match point to seal the win and advance the Trojans

In the opening set, Mount Olive saved four set points before Dache broke a 27-27 tie with a kill and a Pfeiffer error gave the Trojans the set. Pfeiffer jumped out to an 11-4 lead in the second set and was never threatened as the Falcons evened the match at a set apiece.

Dimm finished with 11 kills, while Tyler Yanez recorded 39 assists. The Trojans compiled hitting percentages of .353 and .409 in the final two sets to overcome hitting percentages under .135 in the first two sets. Josh Donahue recorded 16 digs.

Hirini led Pfeiffer with 18 kills.

Mount Olive will face its fourth different opponent in the championship match, having defeated Lees-McRae in 2010 and King in 2011 before falling to Pfeiffer in 2012. Erskine is in the title match for the first time in program history after posting a three-set win over Barton Saturday.

The Trojans and the Flying Fleet split their two regular season meetings, each winning on the other's homecourt.