DUE WEST, S.C. – The Erskine College men's volleyball team (9-14, 4-9 CC) concluded the 2021 regular season with a three-set defeat against Emmanuel College (9-12, 6-8 CC) 21-25, 22-25, 18-25 at Belk Arena on Tuesday night.
 
THE ESSENTIALS:
Conf. Carolinas Standings | Stats | Scores
Div. II Scores | Record Book | Conf. Carolinas Digital Network
 
THE SERIES
Emmanuel finishes off a season sweep of the Fleet and have now won five straight against Erskine, but still trail the all-time series 9-8.

THE MATCH
Set 1: Both teams went back-and-forth in the beginning of the opening set, and with Erskine trailing 12-9, the Fleet won five straight points, led by a pair of aces and a kill from Kacper Rybarczyk and took a 14-12 lead. Emmanuel, though, won of eight of the next ten points and grabbed a 21-17 lead. Erskine battled back, and a Jacob Whyte kill held off one Lions' set point, but Emmanuel took the first set 25-21.

Set 2: A Rybarczyk ace capped a 5-2 start for the Fleet in Set 2. But, Emmanuel went on a 7-1 scoring and took a 9-6 lead. However, the Fleet won nine of the next twelve points, behind three Rybarczyk kills and had a 15-12 lead. Erskine held that lead until the Lions regained it a 21-20, but a Whyte kill tied the set at 22 apiece, before Emmanuel won the final three points of the set and took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 25-22 victory in Set 2.
 
Set 3: The third set was a seesaw affair in the early stages as well, and consecutive kills from Cole Vigo leveled things at 13. But, another Emmanuel run, this time winning eight of nine points gave the visitors a convincing 21-14 lead. The Fleet got kills from Whyte and Rybarczyk but could not overcome the deficit as a 25-18 Emmanuel win sealed a three-set sweep for the Lions.

THE PLAYER
Kacper Rybarczyk tallied a team-high 10 kills and hit .444 for the match. Rybarczyk also added three aces and four digs in the loss.
 
THE TEAM
The Fleet hit .205 (33 K / 17 E / 78 TA) for the match, and had 29 digs to Emmanuel's 21. But, Erskine had their lowest kill total in a match since early March.
 
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Fleet begin play in the 2021 Conference Carolinas tournament against these same Emmanuel Lions. This time, the match will be at Emmanuel on Thursday at 7:00 p.m.

MORE ABOUT THE ERSKINE COLLEGE FLYING FLEET

    Visit the Official Home of Erskine Athletics at www.erskinesports.com
  
    Follow us on Social Media – Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Photos