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Middle attacker Ethan Rehmann in the biggest ConfCarolinas match of the regular season delivered a season-best performance.
Rehmann finished with 12 kills on a match-best .750 attack percentage as Belmont Abbey defeated North Greenville 24-26, 25-16, 25-23, 25-20 on Tuesday in Belmont, North Carolina.
Belmont Abbey (10-2, 6-1 ConfCarolinas) with this victory breaks the tie with North Greenville atop the ConfCarolinas and moves into sole possession of first place entering the second half of the conference season.
Rehmann did not commit an attack error against North Greenville (6-5, 5-2 ConfCarolinas) en route to having their second-most efficient offensive performance of the season. The middle attacker in the final game led all players with five kills, including back-to-back kills to close out the match.
Rehmann also had a match-high six blocks with three blocks in four-play span during the third game.
Belmont Abbey out-hit North Greenville .271 to .093 highlighted with a match-best .407 attack percentage in the second game.
Three players had double-digit kills to help the Crusaders extend their winning streak to six matches. Both opposite Matthew Staskunas and outside attacker Zach Puentes ended with a match-high 13 kills.
Staskunas also had a match-high three aces, while Rehmann contributed two aces. Belmont Abbey finished with seven aces – five more aces than North Greenville.
Outside attacker Logan Keothavy in the loss led North Greenville with 12 kill. Pin-hitter Mark Autry also had nine kills along with a team-high four blocks.
North Greenville for the third consecutive match was without outside attacker Diego Rosich and middle attacker Michael de la Cruz. The Crusaders are now 1-2 without these two All-ConfCarolinas starters in the lineup.
Belmont Abbey won the match despite blowing a five-point lead to lose the first game.
Belmont Abbey led 24-19 before North Greenville fought off five consecutive game-points and went on a 7-0 run to win the game in overtime. Autry during the run had a kill and then the game-winning block in overtime.