Dache has 14 kills in Trojans' season-opening win

By News-Argus Staff
Published in Sports on January 16, 2014 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

MOUNT OLIVE -- Much-improved Barton gave archrival University of Mount Olive plenty of trouble Wednesday evening.

The Trojans answered at the right times.

Angel Dache pounded out seven of his match-high 14 kills during the final set of 25-23, 25-17, 25-20 triumph over the Bulldogs inside Kornegay Arena. It was the season- and Conference Carolinas-opening match for both teams.

"They gave us fits," second-year UMO head coach David Heller said.

Particularly in the opening set.

Zach McCalla's kill to the backline gave Barton a 17-17 tie and ignite a 4-0 run that included three consecutive UMO unforced errors.

Dache's kill, a Bulldog attack miscue and Lewis Einarson's solo block of McCalla knotted the set at 20-all. The teams traded ties at 21, 22 and 23 before junior opposite Victor Fraga Leal unloaded the go-ahead kill for UMO.

A Barton blocking error closed out the first set.

"Monumental," Heller said of the first-set win. "If we would not have won that first set, this could have been a very long night for both teams. I think we took a lot of momentum away from them after winning that first set."

A team that pressured the Trojans with its serving and blocking lost its rhythm in the second and third sets. UMO played with more energy, transitioned well from defense to offense and consistently earned sideouts.

The Trojans seized command with a 7-1 run in the second set. Leal, Dache, Steven Cruse and Einarson each collected key points, which prevented the Bulldogs from staging any sort of rally.

BC ended the set with a service error.

"We ended up swinging at some out-of-system balls and that helped us out," Heller said. "We spread the offense around more than we have at any point last year. Everybody was involved ... both middles, Victor hit .429 and contributed six digs that allowed us to get clutch points when we transitioned to Angel.

"I was really proud of how the guys played all the way around compared to just one or two facets of the game."

Einarson's kill capped the third set and kept UMO perfect in six meetings against Barton, which dropped to 2-25 all-time against Conference Carolinas opposition.

Leal and Cruse posted nine and six kills, respectively, in a UMO offense that hit a crisp .402 for the match. JUCO transfer Tyler Yanez distributed 36 assists, while freshman libero Josh Donahue emerged the defensive leader with 10 digs.

The Trojans (1-0 overall, 1-0 CC) begin a two-game road swing Thursday at perennial power Lewis, which is ranked No. 9 in the latest AVCA Division I-II national poll. UMO is the guest of No. 2-ranked Loyola (Chicago) on Saturday.