Trojans net victories over tennis rival Pfeiffer

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on March 14, 2011 1:47 PM

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MOC Sports Information

MOUNT OLIVE -- The Mount Olive College men's tennis team rallied past Conference Carolinas foe Pfeiffer, 6-3, and extended its win streak to four matches at the Walker Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon.

Akio Mariano fended off a match point at No. 4 singles, and claimed a third-set tiebreaking win. Yoann Pham, Thiago Dualiby and Diogo Sender won their respective singles matches in straight sets.

Pham tied the match with his win at No. 3 singles. Sender dropped only one game at No. 6 singles and Dualiby's 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 5 singles clinched the dual-match victory for the Trojans.

The Trojans (6-3 overall, 3-1 CC) seized a 2-1 lead in doubles on wins by Dualiby-Murilo Pelegrino and Pham-Sender.

On the women's side, Mount Olive captured the last three singles matches and doubled up Pfeiffer, 6-3. Camila Kurebayashi broke the 3-3 tie with a straight-set win at No. 4 singles. Noelia Mora survived a frantic comeback to clinch the team win at No. 5 singles.

The Trojans (7-3, 3-2 CC) swept the doubles matches.

MOC plays host to Lees-McRae today at 3 p.m.

Men's volleyball

JAMAICA, N.Y. -- The Mount Olive College men's volleyball team enjoyed a successful conclusion to its spring break road trip, winning three of four matches in the York College Men's Volleyball Classic contested Friday and Saturday.

The Trojans (16-6 overall) took all three of their victories in straight sets, and battled through a dramatic five-set match before falling to SUNY New Paltz, ranked No. 15 nationally among NCAA Division III programs. New Paltz went 4-0 in the event and won the tourney title.

John Nunns established the tone for Mount Olive's weekend when he set a school record for the highest hitting percentage with at least 20 attempts in the Trojans' 25-12, 25-10, 25-17 win over Elms College. Nunns recorded a match-high 19 kills with no errors in 21 attempts, for an outstanding .905 percentage.

Angel Dache was nearly as good, recording 12 kills with no errors in 14 attempts for an .857 percentage. He also had five aces and four blocks.

As a team, Mount Olive hit .597 for the match.

Dache continued his strong play in Friday's second contest, recording 13 kills, six digs and four blocks in a 25-16, 25-16, 25-13 victory over Elmira College. He would later be named to the event's all-tournament team.

Benedikt Schirmers added 12 kills and seven blocks, while Nunns chipped in 10 kills and Tim Ebbecke contributed six kills and nine blocks.

Saturday's first contest against New Paltz turned out to be for the tournament championship. The Trojans took the opening set 25-17, then dropped the second set 25-16. Mount Olive fought to a 29-27 win in the third set, but New Paltz took sets four and five by two points each, 25-23 and 17-15, respectively.

The Trojans bounced back from the loss by downing the University of New Haven 25-14, 25-17, 25-21 in their final match of the tournament.