Men’s Volleyball sweeps Barton for third straight victory

SALISBURY, N.C. – After going to five sets in Wilson back in January, the Catawba College men's volleyball team needed just three frames to dispatch Barton, 3-0, at Goodman Arena on Friday night.

TEAM STATS

- The squads had comparable hitting percentages as Catawba (9-8) tallied a superior .245 to the Bulldogs' (10-8) mark of .212

- Catawba logged an efficient .436 setting percentage while Barton recorded a .356 clip

- The blue and white held a 4-2 advantage in aces with fewer errors at a 12-9 margin

- Although no individuals cracked double figures in digs, the Catawba Indians kept 41 Barton attacks in play; the Bulldogs totaled 30 digs

- Barton was potent at the net, making 11.5 stops with a lone blocking error while Catawba elevated for 6.5 blocks and was whistled for being in the net twice

INDIVIDUAL STATS

- Trevor Phillips launched 18 kills with two service aces, seven digs, one block and a flawless reception percentage on 25 attempts

- Eli Zdonek struck 16 times and nearly picked up a double-double with nine digs, also adding a pair of block assists

- John Cordray ripped six kills with three blocks, seven digs and an ace

- Luke O'Neill and Wyatt Eastin also racked up a trio of block assists apiece

- Kristian Smith amassed 42 assists, the nation's fourth-best total in a three-set match, with an ace and two digs

- Max Adkisson tacked on eight digs with an errorless 19 receptions and one assist

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Set

- Phillips found openings for back-to-back aces and a kill to lift Catawba to an early 4-1 edge

- Small runs for each team as solo blocks from Ryan Geraci and Seth Deppe evened the score at 10-10

- Edging ahead slightly for the next handful of rallies, Catawba saw Phillips pile on three kills to rival Jake Adams' three darts; Barton tied it again at 19-all

- The hosts enjoyed a 4-1 swing with Leo Trainum serving before another Phillips kill and an Eastin-Condray block sealed the set in 25-21 fashion

Second Set

- Following a dead heat through 10 rallies, the Bulldogs took the first multi-point lead when Adams and Jack Sandahl strung together a pair of strikes

- Catawba pulled back even, navigating around a second two-point Barton lead, and eventually gained solid footing when Cordray's ace made it 17-15 favoring the blue and white

- Sandahl and Geraci teamed up for a block and Adams balanced the ledger at 19-19, forcing a Catawba timeout before Barton opted for a break two points later

- Zdonek and Cordray found paydirt on the final two rallies to cap a 5-1 run to end the set, prevailing 25-21 and moving one set away from a sweep

Third Set

- Barton leapt to a 3-0 advantage, but the Catawba Indians eventually walked the 'Dogs down using three Zdonek blasts as O'Neill and Phillips added kills to take a 9-7 lead

- The score bounced between favoring the Bulldogs by a point and Catawba by three, until consecutive Phillips darts spurred a Barton timeout when the hosts stretched the gap to 18-14

- Down 22-17, the visitors crawled out of the hole with five points in a row including a set-tying ace by Adams

- The Bulldogs slipped ahead to reach set point with an assisted block from Geraci and Luke Deppe, but a Zdonek kill and a Barton mistake flipped the situation to 25-24 and match point

- Still knotted at 27-27, the 'Dogs delivered an off-target serve to get to match point No. 4 as Zdonek drove home the deciding point to clinch the sweep

UP NEXT

The Catawba Indians are off for spring break, returning to action on Tuesday, Mar. 18 to host Erskine at 7 p.m.