DUE WEST, S.C.  – The Erskine College men's volleyball team (6-5, 3-2 CC) swept Barton College (5-5, 3-4 CC) in three sets, 25-20, 25-21, 25-23 at Belk Arena on Sunday night.
 
THE ESSENTIALS:
Conf. Carolinas Standings | Stats | Scores
Div. II Scores | Record Book | Conf. Carolinas Digital Network
 
THE SERIES
The Bulldogs still lead the all-time series 12-10, but a Fleet win ended a ten-match Barton winning streak in the series.

THE MATCH
Set 1: A number of Barton errors and kills from Jacob Whyte and Cole Vigo helped Erskine jump out to an early 10-5 lead in the first set. But the Bulldogs responded by winning the next four points and eventually got level at 12 apiece before another kill from Whyte gave Erskine the lead right back. Barton took its first lead at 15-14, but a massive 5-0 run, fueled by Whyte's serve put the Fleet back up 21-16. A kill from Whyte ended a 25-20 victory in the opening set.

Set 2: Both teams led the second set, but not by more than just two points until another kill from Whyte capped a run of three straight points for the Fleet to take a 17-14 lead. The Fleet held the Bulldogs at arms length to close out the set as a kill from Edgerrin Austin sealed a 25-21 win.
 
Set 3: The Fleet attack continued its dominance to begin Set 3, as four different Erskine players tallied kills to help get the Fleet an early 7-3 lead. Barton got back within a point at 11-10, but a serving run from Kacper Rybarczyk much like Whyte's in Set 1, regained some breathing room for Erskine with a 15-10 lead. The Bulldogs answered back with a 4-0 run that was ended by an Austin kill to make it 17-15 Fleet. Barton tied the score at 19, but two kills and an ace from Rybarczyk put Erskine back on top at 24-20 with four match points to work with. The Bulldogs did not go out easily as they won the first three match points, but Whyte's tenth kill of the night clinched a 25-23 victory in the set and a sweep of Barton.
 
THE PLAYER
Edgerrin Austin had a team-high 15 kills for Erskine and hit .310 in the match. Austin also totaled three blocks and led the Fleet with seven digs in the win.
 
THE TEAM
Erskine hit .325 (39 K / 13 E / 80 TA), their highest of the season since a season-opening win against Maranatha Baptist in the NCCAA Tournament. The Fleet also outassisted Barton 36 to 32, led by 32 assists from Juan Alcoba.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Erskine is back in action at home tomorrow against the Conference Carolinas leaders, Mount Olive (7-1, 6-1 CC) at 2:30 p.m. The Trojans lead the all-time series 8-5 and have won three straight as well as six of the last seven meetings between the teams.
 
MORE ABOUT THE ERSKINE COLLEGE FLYING FLEET

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