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Mount Olive with a chance to clinch the ConfCarolinas regular season championship quickly made sure there wouldn’t be much suspense to the match.
Mount Olive limited Erskine to a .033 attack percentage in a sweep 25-20, 25-17, 25-14 on Saturday in Mount Olive, North Carolina to win the conference regular season title.
This is the first regular season title for the Trojans since 2021 and their fifth title in program history. In addition, the victory extends Mount Olive’s winning streak to a nation-best 16 matches, and the team remains undefeated in conference play.
Middle attacker Holden Maryott led Mount Olive with four blocks against Erskine, including back-to-back blocks as part of an 8-1 run in the second game. Maryott added the game-winning block in the first game to cap off a 4-0 Trojans run that closed out the game.
Along with the defensive performance, Maryott contributed seven kills on a .500 attack percentage.
Maryott was one of two Trojans to hit at least .500 as the team finished the sweep with a .320 attack percentage.
Middle attacker Constantinos Iacovou had six kills and zero errors on a match-best .750 attack percentage. Both pin-hitters Kory Grant and Christos Savvidis added a team-high eight kills.
Erskine pin-hitter Allen Faison in the loss had a match-high 15 kills on a .344 attack percentage. Faison was the only Fleet player to have more than seven kills as three players finished with a negative attack percentage.
Mount Olive as the ConfCarolinas regular season champions will be the No. 1 seed for the conference tournament and receive a bye to the semifinals. The conference tournament semifinals and finals will be played next month at King with the champion receiving a berth to the NCAA Tournament.
The Trojans are attempting to earn their first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
Erskine with this loss remains in fifth place in the ConfCarolinas. The Fleet can clinch a berth to the six-team ConfCarolinas Tournament if it wins one of its remaining two conference matches.