Mount Olive strikers set to open season

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on January 18, 2007 2:33 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- The Mount Olive College men's volleyball team opens its third season of play in New England this weekend.

The Trojans will play Emmanuel (Mass.) College and host Mount Ida College on Saturday, and travel to Rivier (N.H.) College on Sunday.

Six starters return off last year's team that posted a 5-10 record. Juniors Zach Wilson and Kris Suarez have been on the team during each of the first three years of varsity competition. A 6-foot-2 setter, Wilson averaged more than 11 assists per game and is the lone remaining member of the Trojans' club team, which started play in 2003-04.

Suarez, a 5-10 libero, averaged just under three digs a game last season.

Sophomores Pedro Penate (3.47 kills per game) and Cesar Trigo de Serrano (3.06) finished second and third on the team in kills last year. Sophomore Mike Carroll was the Trojans' top blocker last season, averaging just under one block per game. Sophomore Kyle Lewis was second on the team in blocks and aces.

The roster includes six freshmen, along with two sophomores who became eligible this year.

Mount Olive's home opener is Feb. 3 against Warner Southern (Fla.) for a pair of matches at Kornegay Arena. Mount Olive also hosts a tournament March 2-3 with in-state rival Lees-McRae, York (N.Y.) and Eastern Mennonite (Va.).

Along with Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the Trojans will travel to Connecticut, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia this season.