HARTSVILLE, SC - The Belmont Abbey College men's volleyball team improved to 16-10 overall after an out of conference contest against the Cobras of Coker College. Coker falls to 14-9. Senior outside hitter Nolan Albrecht and junior outside hitter Robert Nixon paced both teams with a .600 and .417 clip. The Abbey out-hit the Cobras .351-.252 and out-dug them by five. Belmont Abbey took the match in four sets (26-24, 25-16, 20-25, 25-20).

Santos and Cabral led their team with 18 and 16 kills respectively.

Albrecht led all players with four aces and seven digs. Senior setter Derek Sullivan notched 40 assists, three kills and four digs. Freshman libero Carson Flood notched six digs.

The teams traded points in the first set with 16 ties. At 24 apiece, an attack error from Santos and ace from Nixon solidified the opening frame for the Crusaders.

In the second set, the Abbey jumped out to an 8-3 run and did not let the Cobras get within five the remainder of the frame.

Set three was commanded by Coker who immediately led. At 12-9, Coker slipped in and went on an 8-2 run dropping the Crusaders to 14-17, but the Abbey pushed back going on a 4-2 spurt. The Cobra offense pushed a 6-2 run to complete the set.

The last time the teams were tied was at 10 in the fourth set. Kills from senior middle blocker Justin Snyder and senior opposite John Lowenhagen helped push the team to a 15-13 score. The Cobras got within one at 18-17, but a kill from Lowenhagen and ace from Albrecht opened the frame and momentum to complete the match.

The Abbey will finish the regular season on the road at Lees McRae Tuesday, April 12 at 7:00 PM. They will be playing Mount Olive in the first round of the Conference Carolinas playoffs. The site will be determined by higher seed and should be announced by Tuesday evening.