Belmont Abbey sophomore Brennan Beyner led three Crusaders in double figure kills with a career-high 17, but the Crusaders dropped the last three sets to Mount Olive after capturing the first as the Trojans earned a 3-1 victory this evening inside the Wheeler Center. Scores were 24-26, 25-21, 25-23 and 25-17. Mount Olive improves to 14-10 overall and 11-7 in Conference Carolinas, while the Abbey slips to 12-13 overall and 8-9 in league play.

The loss guarantees the Crusaders will be the seventh seed in next week's Conference Carolinas Tournament, which will begin Saturday, April 18.

Beyner, whose previous career kills high was 14 last season against Alderson-Broaddus, led all players tonight with 17 kills as he hit .233. Anthony Pippen added 15 and Nolan Albrecht posted ten. Pippen hit .306 as he posted 15 kills on 36 attacks with just four errors. Derek Sullivan handed out 45 assists while registering two kills. Albrecht and Sullivan each had one service ace.

Defensively, libero Jon Lowenhagen led the Crusaders with 11 digs while Albrecht added eight. Sullivan chipped in with seven.

Four different Crusaders had block solos: Sullivan, Beyner, Dustin Buell and Justin Snyder.