Robert Poole and Peyton Schirman recorded 17 kills apiece, but University of Mount Olive's rally came up short as the Trojans fell to North Greenville University 23-25, 26-24, 25-20, 18-25, 15-7 in Conference Carolinas men's volleyball Friday at Tigerville, S.C. The match was the Trojans' third in a row to go five sets.
Mount Olive (6-7 overall, 6-5 Conference Carolinas) dropped the second and third sets after winning the opening set. The Trojans fell behind 4-1 in the fourth set before Mike Mann's ace tied the set 7-7. Poole's ace broke a 9-9 tie and put the Trojans ahead to stay. Mount Olive ended the set on a 6-2 run as a block by Mann and Tyler Yanez on set point forced a fifth set.
North Greenville (7-8, 2-5) jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the fifth set and Mount Olive never got closer than four points. The Crusaders ended the match on a 3-0 run, highlighted by kills by Matthew McManaway and Robbie McCoy.
In the first set, Schirman's kill broke a 20-20 tie and put Mount Olive ahead to stay. Poole's kill on set point gave the Trojans a one-set lead.
Schirman and Alex Palmatier combined on back-to-back blocks as the Trojans raced off to a 6-1 lead in the second set. North Greenville came back with a 12-3 run to take a four-point lead. Mount Olive was down 23-22 when another block by Schirman and Palmatier tied the set and Andrew Sydow's ace gave the Trojans a set point. McManaway's kill tied the set 24-24 and Curtis Westra recorded kills on the next two points as the Crusaders evened the match at a set apiece.
In the third set, a 6-1 run helped North Greenville build a 19-12 lead. Mount Olive got as close as 21-18 after a kill by Schirman, but the Crusaders held on to take the set.
Sydow finished with a match-high seven blocks for Mount Olive, while Schirman added five blocks. The Trojans finished with 14.0 blocks as a team, but had none in the fifth set. Quaid Marin recorded 28 assists in his first appearance of the year and Yanez had 25 assists. Keanon Marin finished with a team-high 11 digs.
Westra led four Crusaders in double figures with 16 kills.
The Trojans defeated North Greenville in three sets in the two teams' first meeting in January.
Mount Olive concludes its road trip Saturday as the Trojans travel to Franklin Springs, Ga., to take on Emmanuel in a Conference Carolinas match-up. The Trojans rallied from a set down for a five-set victory over Emmanuel in January at Kornegay Arena. Match time is 2 p.m.