Box Score For those who thought Saturday's "Miracle" comeback was the only showstopper the Mount Olive men's volleyball team had up its sleeve, they don't know Jack.
Jack Tutty recorded two kills directly off of overpasses during a match-ending four-point run and combined with Jackson Metichecchia for a block on match point as Mount Olive erased two match points and rallied for a 21-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-21, 16-14 victory over Saint Francis (Pa.) in non-conference men's volleyball Monday at Kornegay Arena. The win was the Trojans' third in school history against a Division I opponent and first since 2008.
Adam Miracle and Alex Rivero led four Trojans in double figures with 16 kills apiece. Rivero served the final three points of the match.
Mount Olive (8-12) jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the final set on kills by Miracle, Rivero and Tim Ebbecke, and a solo block by Lucas Hoelzl. Saint Francis (8-10) scored six of the next seven points as the Red Flash took advantage of Trojan attack errors and recorded a triple block by Logan Patterson, Adam Roche and Ryan Williams.
The teams exchanged a series of side outs as Miracle's kill tied the set 10-10. Alex Kane's kill put Saint Francis back on top and the Red Flash held serve with a block by Patterson and Roche. After the teams traded side outs, a block by Roche and Williams gave Saint Francis match point at 14-12.
Mount Olive took advantage of a free ball to save the first match point as Metichecchia set to Lukas Hoelzl for his 11th kill of the match. Trojan libero Dan Arnold dug a Saint Francis attack on the next point and Tutty capitalized on an overpass at the net to save another match point and tie the set 14-14. Saint Francis was unable to cleanly handle Rivero's serve and Tutty put home a kill in the middle to put Mount Olive on top 15-14 and give the Trojans their first match point.
After a Saint Francis timeout, Rivero dug a Red Flash attack, but Mount Olive had to settle for putting the ball over on three. Saint Francis tried to attack the Trojan left side, but Tutty and Metichecchia were there to put the ball down just inside the net to give Mount Olive its second five-set win in three days.
Both teams were playing their second straight five-set match. Mount Olive rallied from two sets down for a win over Lees-McRae Saturday. Miracle set a school record with 28 kills in the match. Saint Francis battled nationally ninth-ranked and defending national champion Ohio State to five sets Friday.
Saint Francis led from the start in the first set as Kyle Beatty served aces on the first two points of the set. Mount Olive cut a six-point deficit down to three, but never got any closer. The Trojans saw a 16-10 lead in the second set disappear before Hoelzl's kill broke a 20-20 tie and put Mount Olive ahead to stay.
Mount Olive took an early three-point lead in the third set and still led 22-21 after a kill by Miracle. Roche put Saint Francis ahead to stay with back-to-back kills and recorded a kill on set point to give the Red Flash a 2-1 lead in sets.
The Trojans trailed 3-0 in the fourth set before Ebbecke's block and Miracle's kill gave Mount Olive an 11-8 lead. After Saint Francis rallied to tie the set 16-16 on Adam Barba's ace and Dominik Stork's kill, Rivero recorded three kills during a Mount Olive run of four unanswered points to put the Trojans ahead to stay. Rivero had a kill on set point to force the deciding fifth set.
Tutty finished with 13 kills and only one error in 24 attempts for a .500 hitting percentage. Tutty had four kills with no errors in four attempts in the final set. Tutty also had five blocks in the match. Hoelzl recorded his first collegiate double with 11 kills and a career-high 13 digs. Arnold recorded a match-high 16 digs.
Ebbecke led all players at the net with nine blocks for the second consecutive match. Rivero added seven blocks for the Trojans. Mount Olive finished with 16.0 team blocks, tied for the sixth-highest single-match total in school history.
Saint Francis, which played 14 players, was led by Roche with 13 kills and eight blocks. Kane had 12 kills and only one error in 26 attempts, while Patterson added 11 kills. The Red Flash had 11.5 blocks, including 3.5 in the final set.
Mount Olive posted two wins over Harvard in 2008 for the Trojans' only previous victories over NCAA Division I men's volleyball opponents. Mount Olive entered Monday's contest 0-6 against Saint Francis, including a four-set loss in February. All of the previous matches had been at Saint Francis.
Mount Olive makes its annual trip to Jamaica, N.Y., this weekend to compete in the York Men's Volleyball Classic. The Trojans play two matches Friday evening and two matches Saturday afternoon. Mount Olive plays four more away matches after this weekend before playing host to Limestone April 7 in the Trojans' regular season finale.