Box Score Due West, S.C. – Hosting their first ever conference tournament game, the Erskine Flying Fleet (20-6) buried the Bulldogs of Barton College (12-17) in straight sets, winning 25-17, 31-29, and 26-24 tonight in the Semi-finals of the Conference Carolinas Men's Volleyball Championship Tournament at Belk Arena.

After crushing the Bulldogs in the first set 25 to 17, the Flying Fleet needed to rally from a 3-point deficit in the second set to win 31 to 29 then held off the Bulldogs in the third set to win the set 26 to 24 and the match in straight sets.

Erskine was firing on all cylinders in the first set, scoring on a .393 clip while holding the Bulldogs to just .074 hitting percentage.  Sophomore middle hitter Omar Melendez (San Juan, P.R., Colegio San Ignalio) led the Fleet attack, knocking down 5 kills on 7 attempts.

Unfazed by the pounding they took in the first set, Barton held a three point lead at 23 to 20 in the second set.  Zach McCalla and J. Novoa-Miralles led the Barton attack with 6 kills each.  Erskine rebounded to tie the game at 24 to 24 then overcame three consecutive game points to win the set 31 to 29.  Sophomore outside hitter Mike Michelau (Trevor, WI, Westosha Central High School) knocked down 10 kills in the set.

In the third set, Erskine grabbed a two-point lead but could not put Barton away.  Barton got a kill from McCalla followed by a service ace Novoa-Miralles to tie the game at 23-23.  After swapping points, freshman Roberto Perez Vargas (Dorado, P.R., Bayamon Military Academy) scored the next two points on a thundering kill followed by a service ace to win the set and match.

Michelau just missed a double-double with a game-high 18 kills and 9 digs.  Melendez and Vargas knocked down 9 kills each while setter Corey Marks (Southwest Ranches, FL, Archbishop Edward McCarthy High School) dished out 41 assists along with 7 digs and 3 blocks.

The Bulldogs were led by McCalla's 13 kills while teammate Micheal McMahon had a game-high 17 digs.

As the #1 seed, Erskine will host #3 seed the University of Mount Olive on Wednesday starting at 7:00 p.m.  Mount Olive beat #2 seed Pfeiffer University tonight 3-1 in the other semi-final match.