Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Riverside, CA – The Erskine Flying Fleet (15-5) won both their West Coast games this weekend, winning both games in five sets against Hope International University (12-8) and California Baptist University (4-17) in non-conference men's volleyball action.  With the two wins, Erskine ran their win streak to eleven games with five games remaining in the season.

On Friday, the Flying Fleet hit a blistering .545 over the final two sets, including a season-high .846 in the final set, to rally from a 2-1 deficit to steal the win from host Hope International University.

In the fourth set, Erskine won four of the set's first five points and raced to a 25 to 19 victory to force the tie-breaking fifth set.  Amazingly the Fleet's first points did not come from their big hitters but rather from three blocks at the net.  Sophomore Mike Kawa (Debica, Poland, Elk Grove High School) teamed up with three other teammates each time to stop the Royal attack.  Kawa would finish with six blocks in the game.

The Fleet torrid offense reached even a higher gear in the decisive fifth set, scoring 11 kills off just 13 attempts to win the set 15 to 7.  Erskine sprinted out to a 6 to 1 lead behind two service aces and a kill by sophomore Andres Talavera (Bayamon, P.R., Academia Discipulos de Crista) as the Fleet sprinted to the easy victory.

With five players recording double-digit kills on the night, Erskine had two players, freshman Roberto Perez Vargas (Dorado, P.R., Bayamon Military Academy) and sophomore Corey Marks (Southwest Ranches, FL, Archbishop Edward McCarthy High School), finish with double-doubles.  Vargas drilled a game-high 19 kills along with 10 digs while Marks reached 60 assists for the second time this season and had a game-high 11 digs.  Talavera knocked down a season-high 12 kills on just 19 attempts and junior Neal Stanley (Apopka, FL, Apopka High School) finished with season-best 15 kills.  Kawa and Omar Melendez (San Juan, P.R., Colegio San Ignalio) also had 12 kills in the game.

The next day against California Baptist University the Flying Fleet again found themselves trailing two sets to 1 after hitting just .084 through the first three sets. The Fleet hit .385 over the last two sets, including a match-high .577 in the fourth set, to steal another win and extend their winning streak to eleven games.
 
With the score tied 7 to 7 in the fourth set, Erskine outscored California Baptist 18 to 8 to win the set 25 to 15.  Talavera put down a kill and sophomore Mike Michelau (Trevor, WI, Westosha Central High School) served an ace to give the Fleet a lead they would never relinquish.

After losing a three-point lead inthe fifth set, the Fleet held off the Lancers to win 19 to 17.  Trailing early at 6 to 4, Erskine scored five points in a row to take a 9 to 6 lead.  Michelau ignited the run with a thundering kill off a pass from Marks, who would finish with a game-high 54 assists and 10 digs for his second consecutive double-double and his fourth on the season.

The Lancers closed to within one at 14 to 13 and fought off two game points to force the game into "win by two."  With the game tied at 17 apiece, Kawa served an ace and the Erskine defense forced the Lancers to hit wide to win the set 19 to 17 and the match 3 to 2.

Vargas led the Fleet for the third game in a row with 20 kills and 8 digs.  Michelau had a great all-around game with 18 kills, 4 aces, 5 digs and 4 blocks.  Melendez also reached double-digits with 10 kills and had 4 blocks.

With the school on Spring Break, the team will spend some extra time in California in volunteer at the Dream Center.  Head Coach Derek Schmitt will be writing a daily blog about the experiences that will posted on the Erskine Athletic website.

Once back to Due West, Erskine will turn their attention to winning their first-ever regular season conference championship.  Erskine hosts conference foe Pfeiffer University on Tuesday, March 25^th starting at 7:00 p.m.