Box Score Due West, S.C. – After seemingly sleepwalking through the first set, the vaulted Erskine offense came alive to defeat the Crusaders of Belmont Abbey College (8-10, 4-6) 3 to 1 (21-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-14) this afternoon in Conference Carolinas men's volleyball action at Belk Arena.
 
The Fleet, who lead the conference in kills per set, hit just .087 in the first set giving the Crusaders hope of an upset.  The Abbey sprinted out to an 8 to 1 lead thanks to five Fleet attack errors.  The deficit was too great for the Fleet to overcome, losing the first set 25 to 21. 
 
Erskine (15-4, 11-2) slowly found their offensive rhythm in the second set.  With the set tied 15 to 15, Erskine tallied the next three points on back-to-back kills by junior Omar Melendez (San Juan, P.R., Colegio San Ignalio de Loyola) and sophomore Roberto Perez (Dorado, P.R., Bayamon Military Academy).  Junior Mike Michelau (Trevor, WI, Westosha Central High School) capped off the short burst with his second service ace of the match.  Erskine hung on to win 25 to 21 behind 7 kills from Michelau.
 
In the last two sets, Erskine displayed their powerful offense, hitting .407 and .522, to win the match.  In the third set, all six players tallied a kill, led by Perez's six punch outs while Perez and Michelau combined for 9 kills on 15 attempts in a dominating 25 to 14 win in the final fourth set.
 
Michelau led the Fleet with 19 kills and 7 digs.  Perez filled the stat sheet on the day, recording 14 kills, 3 assists, 6 aces, 3 digs and 2 blocks.  Michael Schneck (Milwaukee, WI, Marquette University High School) led the back row with a game-high 12 digs.
 
Erskine goes on the road for their next three games starting this Wednesday.  The Fleet travel to Banner Elk, North Carolina, to play Lees-McRae.  Game time is set for 7:00 p.m.