Men’s Volleyball swept by hot-handed Mount Olive

MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – The Catawba College men's volleyball team came out on the losing end of a 3-0 decision at Mount Olive on Tuesday night, chalking up the Trojans' sixth straight win via sweep.

TEAM STATS

- Catawba (6-7) was squeezed on offense with an .066 hitting percentage against the booming .479 recorded by Mount Olive (9-2)

- The Trojans logged a 7.5-2 advantage in blocking as well as a 37-20 edge in digs

- In service, the blue and white were slightly more accurate (.875-.851) but UMO led the ace count 7-4

- Taking into account all types of errors, Mount Olive had a cleaner night with 22 miscues compared to the Catawba Indians' 36

INDIVIDUAL STATS

- Trevor Phillips and Eli Zdonek shared the team lead in kills with seven apiece as Phillips paced Catawba with seven digs

- Jacob Brown tallied kills on three of his five swings and had a service ace while Cam Reeder also picked up three kills and recorded a team-high two aces

- John Pendergrass notched the first two kills of his college career on four attempts

- Kristian Smith totaled 20 assists with three digs and an ace at the setter position

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Set

- An early kill and ace by Brown started the match in favor of Catawba, but UMO benefitted from the visitors' mistakes to take an 11-7 advantage at the first timeout

- Zdonek landed a kill coming out of the break and Reeder aced on the following serve before the Trojans bounced back, using two Tate Sandvig aces to strengthen their lead to 16-10

- Reeder, Eastin and Phillips struck to keep the UMO lead from growing

- Two late kills and ace from Sandvig helped the Trojans snag the opener, 25-17

Second Set

- The second stanza began with a Reeder ace that set off another back-and-forth start

- After trailing 5-4, Mount Olive went on a 10-2 run to double the Catawba Indians' score at 14-7

- Wyatt Eastin's block and a Reeder kill helped steady the visitors, but UMO got a 5-1 stretch to extend the gap to nine

- Pendergrass prolonged the frame with a kill on set point before Holden Maryott's dart put it away in 25-16 fashion

Third Set

- Zdonek, O'Neill and Phillips opened the set with three straight Catawba kills

- While Phillips added three more kills to his name, the Trojans started to breeze past the Catawba Indians by winning 10 of the next 14 rallies

- As Catawba closed in at 11-10, UMO regrouped to gain six consecutive points

- John Cordray and Luke O'Neill teamed up for a stop and Zdonek chipped in a kill, but the Trojans rolled their way to 25 points to pick up the sweep

UP NEXT

Catawba hosts fourth-ranked Hawaiʻi in an historic clash at Goodman Arena on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 11 a.m.