MOC Volleyball tea falls at home

Published in Sports on March 22, 2006 1:47 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- Cesar Trigo de Serrano led four players in double figures with 21 kills and Mount Olive rallied from two games down, but Eastern Mennonite, ranked No. 9 in the AVCA Division III Top 15, held on for a 30-28, 30-24, 27-30, 24-30, 15-12 victory over the Trojans in men's volleyball Tuesday at Kornegay Arena. Ethan Fry led Eastern Mennonite with a match-high 28 kills.

Mount Olive (5-7) fell behind 4-0 in game one and trailed the entire game. Eastern Mennonite (16-5) built the lead to as many as five points, but the Trojans came back to pull within a point. Julio Arnaiz's kill saved a game point and pulled the Trojans within 29-28, but EMU took home the first game on a kill by Calen Hochstetler.

Eastern Mennonite jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the second game and led by at least four points the rest of the way to take a two-game lead.

A pair of blocks by Mike Carroll helped spark Mount Olive to its first lead of the match early in game three, but Eastern Mennonite used a 7-1 run to break a 5-5 tie and take a 12-6 lead. Back-to-back kills by Arnaiz and Zach Wilson's ace highlighted a 4-0 Mount Olive run and the Trojans eventually tied the game 16-16 on Pedro Penate's kill.

There were three more ties before a double block by Arnaiz and Kyle Lewis sparked a run of five unanswered points and gave the Trojans their biggest lead at 23-19. EMU got as close as two points after consecutive kills by Fry, but Trigo de Serrano and Penate each notched a pair of kills and Lewis' kill at game point gave the Trojans a victory in game three.

Carroll again sparked the Trojans to an early lead with a block and a kill and Mount Olive built the lead to as many as six points. Dominick Porter's kill pulled EMU within 22-18, but Trigo de Serrano answered with a kill and followed with an ace as the Trojans extended their lead to 27-19. Arnaiz's kill at game point forced a fifth and deciding game.

Game five saw 11 consecutive ties as neither team led by more than one

Penate finished with 19 kills for Mount Olive, while Arnaiz added 17 kills and Lewis chipped in 11 kills. Carroll narrowly missed a double-double with nine kills and nine blocks. Wilson recorded a career-high 68 assists, while Kris Suarez recorded a team-high 19 digs. Arnaiz had 15 digs and Penate finished with 14 digs as both players recorded double-doubles.

MOC Sports Information