MOC volleyball is league champion

By From staff reports
Published in Sports on March 27, 2010 11:41 PM

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MOUNT OLIVE -- What a perfect senior night gift.

And now it's time to make room for another championship banner in the rafters at Kornegay Arena.

Mount Olive College seized the inaugural Conference Carolinas regular-season men's volleyball crown with a 30-23, 30-25, 30-27 victory over in-state foe Lees-McRae College on Friday evening.

Noel Garcia, Adam Miracle and Camilo Guerci pounded out 12 kills apiece for the Trojans, who will host the first-ever Conference Carolinas tournament championship on April 17. The opponent and time will not be determined until league play is completed.

Still experiencing the euphoria of sweeping its archrival, MOC dropped a 25-30, 30-28, 24-30, 17-30 decision to Stevens Institute of Technology later in the evening. Christiaan Rombaut delivered nine kills for the Trojans, who had their eight-match win streak snapped.

Six MOC seniors were honored -- Rombaut, Garcia, Guerci, Jose Lanier, Alex Hoekstra, Felix Reimundo and Jose Lanier -- prior to the LMC battle.

The Trojans (14-3 overall, 6-1 CC) built a two-set lead against the Bobcats.

Rombaut recorded back-to-back blocks in the third set, which sparked a 9-1 run and put MOC ahead 21-15. Lees-McRae reeled off four consecutive points and eventually grabbed a 26-24 advantage on Raphael Viera's service ace.

A Guerci-Miracle double block closed the gap to 27-26 and ignited a match-clinching, 4-0 run. The Trojans tallied the final three points with Garcia on serve, and claimed the program's first-ever league championship.

Hoekstra distributed 45 assists among five hitters. Guerci logged a match-high seven blocks and the Trojans had 11 overall as a team.

Stevens Institute, a perennially-strong Division III program, secured the first set against MOC in the nightcap. The Trojans benefited from a set-ending service error to knot the best-of-five match at 1-all.

The Ducks (18-8) claimed the next two sets as MOC head coach Cole Tallman emptied his bench. Jarvis Karchewski served three aces and handed out 12 assists, while Reimundo emerged the defensive leader with nine digs.

Hoekstra had 31 assists the first two sets.

Mount Olive entertains Division III member Eastern Mennonite (Va.) University on Wednesday. First serve is 7 p.m. at Kornegay Arena.