PREVIEW: Men’s Volleyball ventures out to Pickle Town for midweek match

MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. — The Catawba College men's volleyball team pays a visit to Mount Olive on Tuesday for the back end of a home-and-home series with the Trojans.

No Fly Zone for the Fleet

- The Catawba Indians' last time on the court was Friday in a 3-0 sweep over Erskine

- Despite being shut out, the Flying Fleet made it a barnburner with a 77-69 margin in total points

- Trevor Phillips keyed the offense with 14 kills on a .344 hitting percentage as Eli Zdonek also cracked double-figure kills, recording 10 strikes with a .304 clip

- Kristian Smith amassed 37 assists, his career best in a three-set match, and tallied a season-high three service aces

- Freshmen held down the defensive corps as Max Adkisson posted eight digs while Wyatt Eastin collected three blocks

Aces Galore

- Catawba stacks up 23rd in the country and first among Division I/II independents with 1.50 aces per set

- As a team, the blue and white have seven matches with six or more aces including five of their last seven; Catawba is averaging 1.75 strikes per set in that stretch

- Phillips averages 0.55 darts per stanza, good for seventh nationally, while totaling 23 aces in 42 sets played

- The graduate student has recorded an ace in all but one contest this season, topping out at six in the five-set victory at Barton on Jan. 28

Another Conference Carolinas Foe

- Tuesday's match will mark Catawba's ninth against a team from Conference Carolinas

- The league has accounted for three-quarters of the Catawba Indians' inaugural schedule thus far and makes up half of Catawba's remaining slate

- The blue and white are 5-4 when facing CC teams, winning three times via sweep while enduring just one straight-set loss

Scouting the Trojans

- Mount Olive looks to defend its 8-2 record and puts a streak of 16 consecutive set wins on the line

- The Trojans' 3-0 triumph at Catawba on Feb. 4 began a 5-0 kick of sweeps; the Catawba Indians gave UMO all it could handle, putting up at least 20 points in each set while hitting .274

- Tate Sandvig and Jackson Lahey were named a two-time Conference Carolinas Player and three-time Specialist of the Week, respectively, on Monday

- Sandvig leads the offensive attack with 3.73 kills per set on a .445 hitting percentage, while Lahey ranks second in the nation at 11.09 assists per frame and paces the Trojans with 15 aces

Follow Along

The match will be streamed on the Conference Carolinas Digital Network with live stats on umotrojans.com.