MOC men fend off match points, turn back Lees-McRae

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on March 20, 2010 11:06 PM

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MOC Sports Information

BANNER ELK -- Mount Olive College thwarted three match points and claimed sole possession of the Conference Carolinas men's volleyball race with a 26-30, 27-30, 33-31, 30-25, 15-10 triumph over in-state archrival Lees-McRae College.

Alex Hoekstra dished out a career-high 65 assists and recorded 11 digs defensively for the Trojans, who lead the Bobcats by one-half game in the league standings. Senior outside hitter Noel Garcia led a school-record five players in double figures with 18 kills.

Jose Lanier, Adam Miracle (six blocks) and Camilo Guerci logged 14 kills apiece. Lanier registered a career-best 10 blocks. Christiaan Rombaut, the reigning Conference Carolinas player of the week, collected 10 kills and seven blocks.

Overall, Mount Olive recorded 17 team blocks -- one shy of the school record set just six days ago against New Paltz in the York (N.Y.) College Classic.

Down 29-28, Guerci and Rombaut's double-block fended off one match point in the third set. The Bobcats wasted two more match points with a service error and attack error.

Rombaut and Lanier executed a double block to force a fourth set.

Garcia's service ace and kill ignited a 6-1 run in the fourth set. Lees-McRae climbed within three points, but Garcia evened the best-of-five match at 2-all with a kill on set point.

Kills from Guerci and Rombaut gave Mount Olive (13-2 overall, 5-1 CC) some breathing room in the deciding set. The Bobcats saved one match point, but Guerci's kill secured the come-from-behind road win.

Mount Olive returns home Friday for the two-day, three-team Trojan Tri-Match at Kornegay Arena. The Trojans and Bobcats meet for a rematch at 6 p.m., then MOC plays host to Stevens Institute of Technology.