MOUNT OLIVE, NC – The St. Francis College Brooklyn men's volleyball team (3-8) concluded its first-ever trip to North Carolina on Saturday as it participated in a pair of matches at the University of Mount Olive tri-match.
The Terriers fell to Lees-McRae (3-11) in a tight five-set contest to get the day started on Saturday. St. Francis was later topped by host institution Mount Olive in three sets in its final match of the road trip down south.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
St. Francis Brooklyn – 2 | Lees-McRae – 3 (18-25, 25-15, 25-23, 19-25, 12-15)
- Lees-McRae opened up the match by taking the first set by the final score of 25-18. The match began as a back and forth contest, with each side trading points. Lees-McRae took control of the first set when it went on a 6-2 scoring run and led 15-11. The Terriers climbed back into the set and were able to knot it up at 18-18. Lees-McRae closed the set on a 7-0 run to clinch a win, 25-18.
- The Terriers overwhelmed Lee-McRae in the second set and picked up a 25-15 win as it led by double-digits for a majority of the set. Freshman Dominick Pikura led the way in the set with five kills, while freshman middle blocker James Henneberry tallied three kills.
- St. Francis kept it rolling in the third as it carried over the momentum from its victory in set two to capture set three and go up 2-1 in the match. The Terriers trailed by as many as four points, 18-14, but overpowered Lees-McRae down the stretch by going on a 7-0 scoring run, which put them up 23-19. Lees-McRae struck right back to make it a one-point game, 23-22, but the Terriers closed the set out thanks to a Lees-McRae service error and a kill by Henneberry to seal the third set win.
- Lees-McRae rallied back and took the fourth (25-19) and fifth sets (15-12), respectively to pick up the win.
- Henneberry led the Terriers with 14 kills from the middle as he hit .458. Pikura finished a dig shy of a double-double as he totaled 12 kills and nine digs.
- Freshman setter Andrew Piloto dished out 41 assists over the five-setter. Junior libero/setter Derrick Truong added nine digs.
- Freshman outside hitter Johnny Ferraro registered nine kills and six digs, while freshman outside hitter Bartlomiej Zielinski notched eight kills and seven digs.
St. Francis Brooklyn – 0 | Mount Olive – 3 (16-25, 15-25, 23-25)
- Mount Olive took the second match of the day in straight sets. The Trojans came away with the first set, 25-16, thanks in large part to a quick start. Mount Olive began the match by outscoring St. Francis, 9-3. From there, the Trojans built up their lead and ultimately came away with the win in the first.
- The Trojans picked up where they left off in the second set as it knocked off the Terriers, 25-15. Mount Olive controlled the set as it led wire-to-wire en route to the win, which put it up, 2-0, in the match.
- Despite being down, 2-0, the Terriers continued to fight, but were narrowly edged in the third set by the Trojans, 25-23. St. Francis controlled an early, 9-5, lead, but Mount Olive responded by going on a 5-1 run and tying the match up at 10-10. From there, the teams traded points until the Terriers took a 21-19 led after a kill by freshman opposite hitter Daniel Lee. The Trojans tied it up shortly thereafter at 21-21 after back-to-back kills from Tobi Azeez. Mount Olive closed out the set but outscoring the Terriers 4-2 and finished the match with kills from Luke Visgitis and Jarrod Ferguson, respectively.
- Zielinski led the Terriers with 11 kills and five digs, while Ferraro added seven kills of his own.
- Piloto dished out 22 assists and picked up seven digs.
UP NEXT:
The Terriers are back in action on Sunday, March 1, when they head to Hoboken, NJ to face St. Joseph's (LI) at 2 p.m., and then Stevens at 4 p.m.
