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Outside attacker Diego Rosich came through in the biggest moments to close out the conference opener for North Greenville
Rosich had four kills during a 6-0 run late in the fourth game as North Greenville rallied to beat Belmont Abbey 20-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-22 on Tuesday in Tigerville, South Carolina.
North Greenville (2-3, 1-0 ConfCarolinas) trailed 16-15 before Rosich had a kill to tie the final game and jumpstart the run. The All-ConfCarolinas senior also had kills on three consecutive plays during the run to help the Crusaders secure the victory in front of a home crowd of 414 people.
Rosich finished with a match-high 13 kills on a .333 attack percentage, including five kills in the fourth game.
Setter Logan Taylor guided the offense to out-hit Belmont Abbey .288 to .227 highlighted with a match-best .579 attack percentage in the third game. In addition, the Crusaders had four players with more than five kills.
Along with Rosich, middle attacker Emanuel Adames had seven kills on a team-best .417 attack percentage. Both middle attacker Michael de la Cruz and outside attacker Mark Autry added nine kills against Belmont Abbey (4-2, 0-1 ConfCarolinas).
Autry, de la Cruz and Rosich each also had two aces.
Despite the loss, Belmont Abbey out-blocked North Greenville 12.5 to 4. Middle attacker Jibriel Elhaddad led all players with seven blocks, while both Matthew Staskunas and Ethan Rehmann contributed four blocks.
North Greenville and Belmont Abbey have won two of the last three ConfCarolinas championships.
This conference opener also featured two teams ranked in the latest Off the Block Division II National Coaches Poll. North Greenville was the highest ranked ConfCarolinas team at No. 8, and Belmont Abbey finished at No. 10.