Mount Olive trailed early and never recovered as the Trojans fell to Belmont Abbey 25-17, 25-12, 25-16 in Conference Carolinas women's volleyball Saturday at Kornegay Arena. Sarah Robertson and Carly White led the Trojans with seven kills apiece.

Mount Olive (5-8 overall, 1-4 Conference Carolinas) fell behind 8-1 in the first set and trailed by as many as 11 points. The Trojans made a late run as a pair of kills by Dezirae Mackey and an ace by Lauren Lee helped Mount Olive outscore Belmont Abbey 7-4 down the stretch. The Crusaders sealed the first set on Lydia Schellenberg's kill on set point.

Belmont Abbey (11-3, 3-1) broke away from a three-point margin in the second set as an ace by Remick Tiller and a triple block in the middle highlighted an 8-2 run to give the Crusaders a 16-7 lead. The lead grew to double digits as Hannah Schellenberg's kill gave the Crusaders a two-set advantage.

Mount Olive had its best chance in the third set as a kill and an ace by Robertson fueled a run of five unanswered points and turned a 6-1 deficit into a 6-6 tie. After a Belmont Abbey side out, Talita Rocha's block tied the set again at 7-7. But Hannah Schellenberg broke the tie with a kill and followed with a six-point service run. The Trojans got as close as 15-12 after Robertson's kill, but Kay Schellenberg's ace and a pair of blocks by Angela Jubb allowed Belmont Abbey to pull away.

Mackey finished with six kills and a block for Mount Olive, while Lee, Rocha and White recorded two blocks apiece. Lee and Nicole Sparks each had 10 digs for the Trojans.

Hannah Schellenberg was the only player in the match to reach double figures with 14 kills for Belmont Abbey. Kay Schellenberg recorded 37 assists and Lydia Schellenberg had nine of her match-high 14 digs in the second set, including three in a row on one point. The Crusaders finished the match with a .361 hitting percentage.

Mount Olive is off until next weekend when the Trojans play host to a pair of Conference Carolinas contests at Kornegay Arena. Mount Olive takes on Limestone Friday at 7 p.m., then faces Lees-McRae Saturday at 2 p.m.