MOC volleyball claims league crown; baseball rallies late

By MOC Sports Information
Published in Sports on March 20, 2013 1:46 PM

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Sports Information

MOUNT OLIVE -- Adam Miracle posted a blistering .824 hitting percentage and Mount Olive College clinched the Conference Carolinas regular-season men's volleyball championship despite not playing a league match Tuesday evening.

Miracle cranked out 14 kills with no errors in 17 attempts during a 25-15, 25-12, 25-19 conquest of Rutgers-Newark inside Kornegay Arena.

The Trojans (20-3 overall) secured the conference crown when Pfeiffer suffered a loss at in-state foe Lees-McRae.

Alex Rivero finished with nine kills against Rutgers-Newark. Lewis added eight kills, two aces and a match-high five blocks. Angel Dache (three kills) and Tim Ebbecke had four blocks apiece. Libero Dan Arnold finished with six digs.

Starting setter Ben Casado tallied 25 assists in the first two sets. Quaid Marin handed out 15 assists in the third set.

MOC (13-0 CC) plays host to King (Tenn.) on Friday.

Baseball

SUMTER, S.C. -- No. 4-ranked Mount Olive College scored 11 unanswered runs in the final four innings combined, and eased past Armstrong Atlantic State University, 14-11, on Tuesday evening.

AASU led 11-3 through five innings.

The Trojans (23-4) pulled even in the eighth inning on Will Bynum's pinch-hit home run down the left-field line.

Mount Olive capped the comeback with three ninth-inning runs. Jermaine Berry led off with a single, then was cut down on a fielder's choice. Daniel Oliver followed with a double to bring home Bretton Gouthro with the go-ahead run. Bryan Dunlavey doubled, then Zak Orrison singled to bring home the final two runs.

Pitchers Josh Frederick and Derek Justice (2-1) kept the Pirates in check the final 41/3 innings.

The Trojans return home Friday for a pivotal Conference Carolinas series against nemesis Coker (S.C.) College. The teams will play a single game Friday and a doubleheader on Saturday.

Women's golf

PINEHURST -- All five Mount Olive golfers bettered their first-round scores, the Trojans shaved 25 strokes off of their first-round team score and shared fifth place overall during the Wingate University Pinehurst Challenge.

Emelie Andersson, who finished ninth out of 89 golfers, improved by nine strokes and finished with a 157. Virginia Lane (159) and Emy Ohling (173) each improved by seven strokes.

Stef King (182) shot four shots lower and Julie Loennechen (166) was two shots better in the second round.

MOC posted a team score of 655, which was best among the competing Conference Carolinas schools in the 14-team event.

Men's golf

WILSON -- Sebastian Andersen and Mark O'Hara carded the fourth-best scores of the second round, helping nationally 24th-ranked Mount Olive finish fifth out of 14 teams in the Barton Intercollegiate men's golf tournament Tuesday afternoon at the Wilson Country Club.

Andersen (148) and O'Hara (149) were two of the four players to shoot under par during second-round play, and each finished among the top 20.

As a team, the Trojans improved 13 strokes from their first round total. The second-day rally allowed Mount Olive to leap over California (Pa.) into fifth, just one stroke behind fourth-place North Greenville, and 15 behind team champion King (Tenn.).

Jeff Villalobos (154) finished 34th, followed by Dalton Gore (155) in 39th and Jesus Valderrama (159) in 50th.