BELMONT, N.C.  – The Erskine College men's volleyball team (5-4, 2-2 CC) was swept by Belmont Abbey (6-2, 3-2 CC) in three sets, 23-25, 20-25, 20-25 in the Wheeler Center on Tuesday night.
 
THE ESSENTIALS:
Conf. Carolinas Standings | Stats | Scores
Div. II Scores | Record Book | Conf. Carolinas Digital Network
 
THE SERIES
Erskine still leads the all-time series 9-8, but the Crusaders have now won the last seven meetings. 

THE MATCH
Set 1: Erskine and Belmont Abbey went back-and-forth through much of the opening set. Then, a 5-0 Erskine run, all on Crusader errors, gave the Fleet a 19-15 lead. Belmont Abbey crawled their way back, and eventually took the lead. An Edgerrin Austin kill leveled the score at 22, but the hosts closed strong and won the first set 25-23.
 
Set 2: A pair of early kills from Jacob Whyte helped get the Fleet out to a 5-1 start in set 2, but the Crusaders quickly took the lead back and gained control in the set. Another Austin kill gave Erskine a 9-8 lead, but that was the last lead of set 2 for the Fleet, as Belmont Abbey won it 25-20.
 
Set 3: The hosts took a quick 6-2 lead in Set 3, but Erskine answered as a pair of kills from Jason Sall and Kacper Rybarczyk helped tie the score at 11. Sall and Austin each tallied a kill as part of a mini 4-1 run for Erskine, but the Crusaders responded by winning five of the next six points and never looked back on their way to a 25-20 victory in Set 3 to finish off the Fleet in just three sets.
 
THE PLAYER
Edgerrin Austin had a team-high nine kills for Erskine, and he led the team in digs with six on Tuesday night.
 
THE TEAM
Erskine hit just .164 (28 K / 16 E / 73 TA) in the match. For the first time this season, Erskine was held without an ace. The Fleet are among the top teams in the nation in aces per set. Erskine did total eight blocks to the Crusaders' four.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Erskine returns to Due West for a two-match home stretch, beginning on Sunday against Barton College (5-3, 3-2 CC) at 6:30 p.m. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 12-9, having won ten straight meetings between the teams. Erskine has not beaten the Bulldogs since winning a three-set in Due West back in 2016.
 
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