DUE WEST, S.C. – The Erskine College men's volleyball team (8-8, 3-3 CC) was defeated by the University of Jamestown (11-2, 4-0 GPAC) in Belk Arena on Friday night in four sets, 25-23, 15-25, 21-25, 22-25.
 
THE ESSENTIALS:
Conf. Carolinas Standings | Stats | Scores
Div. II Scores | Record Book | Conf. Carolinas Digital Network
 
THE SERIES
Tonight was the first meeting between the Fleet and the Jimmies from South Dakota.

THE MATCH
Set 1: Both teams went back-and-forth with a slim lead for the beginning stages of the opening set as a number of service errors from Jamestown helped the Fleet hang around. Erskine went on a 6-2 scoring run behind three kills from Jacob Whyte and took a 20-16 lead. Moments later, kills from Edgerrin Austin and Cole Vigo extended the Fleet lead to 23-18 and another Vigo kill gave Erskine four set points. The Jimmies won the first three set points, but another Austin kill sealed a 25-23 opening set victory for Erskine.

Set 2: Jamestown responded as they began the second set with a commanding 14-5 win lead and never looked back as the Fleet did not get closer than eight points. The Jimmies cruised to a 25-15 win in Set 2 to tie the match at one apiece. Erskine was paced by three kills from Whyte and two Austin kills in the set.
 
Set 3: A pair of Kacper Rybarczyk kills to begin the third set put Erskine out in front early, but Jamestown responded by winning the next three points. Erskine hung around behind three more kills from Rybarczyk and got within just two points at 22-20. But the Jimmies won three of the final four points to take the third set by a score of 25-21 and take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
Set 4: Jamestown won the first point of Set 4, but two Austin kills and a Juan Alcoba ace gave the Fleet an early 3-1 lead. But the visitors won the next six points and extended their lead out to 17-9, looking well on their way to finishing the match in four sets, as Erskine took a timeout. The Fleet responded after the timeout with a 9-3 scoring run as they trimmed the deficit to 20-18, looking to force a fifth set. A Vigo kill and a Jimmies attack error made it a 23-22 score, the closest Erskine had been since the beginning of the set. However, Jamestown won the final two points and finished off the Fleet in four sets with a 25-22 victory.

THE PLAYER
Kacper Rybarczyk hit .286 (9 K / 3 E / 21 TA) to lead the way for the Fleet. Rybarczyk also tallied six digs and two blocks in the loss. Jacob Whyte added a team-high 10 kills.
 
THE TEAM
Erskine hit .155 (39 K / 21 E / 116 TA) for the match. Erskine totaled eight blocks and two aces, but Jamestown hit .341 (61 K / 17 E / 129 TA) in the match.
 
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Fleet restart Conference Carolinas play next Tuesday at Emmanuel College (3-9, 2-6 CC) at 7:00 p.m. Erskine leads the all-time series over the Lions 9-6, but Emmanuel has won six of the last meetings after Erskine won the first eight matchups in the series.
 
MORE ABOUT THE ERSKINE COLLEGE FLYING FLEET

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