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There was just no slowing down the Barton offense in one of the team’s biggest matches of the season.
Setter Oscar Fiorentino guided the offense to a .520 attack percentage as Barton swept King 25-22, 25-13, 25-22 on Saturday in Wilson, North Carolina, to remain undefeated in ConfCarolinas play.
Barton hit at least .500 in all three games and had three players finish with double-digit kills in this rematch of the 2019 ConfCarolinas Tournament finals.
Outside attacker Nicolo Mancin finished with a match-high 13 kills on a .579 attack percentage, while opposite Angelos Mandilaris also had 13 kills and led all players with four aces. Outside attacker Adrian Iglesias added 12 kills and hit .500 against King.
King was held to a .234 attack percentage and was out-blocked 9.5 to 6. Middle attacker Absalon Williams and Mandilaris each led Barton defensively with a match-high five blocks.
Opposite Joshua Kim in the loss had a team-best 12 kills on a .381 attack percentage.
Barton and King have combined to win the last three ConfCarolinas championships and have met the last two years in the conference tournament finals. In addition, this was the first meeting since Bulldogs beat the Tornado in a fifth-game overtime during their postseason match last year.
King rallied from a six-point deficit in the third game to take the lead at 18-17. The Bulldogs responded with a kill from Iglesias and back-to-back blocks from Mandilaris and Williams to start a 5-1 run and completed the sweep.
Barton opened the second game on an 8-2 run that was capped off with an ace from Mandilaris. In addition, Igesias had a team-high four kills as Barton hit a match-best .550 in the 12-point win.
Similar to the third game, King trailed by as many as six points in the opening game before tying the score at 18-18. However, Mandilaris had five kills after King tied the score to help Barton win the game.
The Bulldogs with this victory extended their winning streak to nine matches and maintained their one-and-half match lead for first-place in the ConfCarolinas. Barton will have a bye week before resuming conference play with a home match against Emmanuel on March 13.
King after opening ConfCarolinas play on a five-match winning streak has now lost its last three conference matches and is in third place.