The Belmont Abbey men's volleyball team completed its six-match homestand with a 3-0 loss to the visiting Lees-McRae Bobcats this evening inside the Wheeler Center. Set scores were 17-25, 28-30 and 8-25. Belmont Abbey falls to 2-12 overall and 1-8 in Conference Carolinas, while the Bobcats improve to 10-5 overall and 4-2 in league play.

After dropping the first set by eight, the Crusaders and Bobcats locked horns in a tight battle during the second set.

Belmont Abbey fought back from a 24-22 deficit by winning three straight points and setting up set point.

Kills from Jon Lowenhagen and Evan Young, followed by a Young block solo put Abbey ahead 25-24 and produced a Bobcats timeout.

After the stoppage, the two teams traded points as again the Crusaders had set point, but a Lees-McRae kill kept the set alive.

After Young tied the match at 27 to keep the set alive, the Bobcats knocked down another kill to move ahead 28-27.

The Crusaders stayed alive by winning the next point on a Brennan Beyner score, but Lees-McRae went up 2-0 in the match with two straight kills from Brady Markle.

The third set was all  Bobcats, as they stormed ahead 12-1 and never looked back as they claimed a 25-8 third set win.

Spencer Fournell led the Crusaders with seven kills while Young added five. Derek Sullivan handed out 18 assists.

Defensively, libero Johnny Gomez totaled 10 digs while Sullivan recorded six.

At the net, Sullivan recorded four block solos with Lowenhagen adding a pair.

Belmont Abbey goes on the road for seven of its next eight and only has three home matches remaining.

The road trip starts Friday night at Pfeiffer.