Coker Goes 1-1 in Opening Day of Coker Invitational Tournament

HARTSVILLE, S.C. – The Coker men's volleyball team went 1-1 in day one of the 2016 Coker Invitational Tournament on Friday (March 4) evening. The Cobras defeated Lees-McRae 3-0 and lost to Erskine 3-1.

In the opening match of the tournament the Cobras defeated the Bobcats of Lees-McRae with set scores of 25-16, 25-18 and 25-18.

The reining Off the Block/Springback National Player of the Month, Artur Cabral, paced the offense with 10 kills, while Colton Parsons dished out 27 assists. Andrew Washum added eight kills and Luke Grupe registered seven kills in the match. Josiah Douglas chipped in six kills as well and Gary Baker led the defense with six digs.

The second match of the evening was a hard fought battle as the Cobras dropped the first two sets 25-22 and 25-23 to the Flying Fleet of Erskine. Coker bounced back in the third set with a 25-23 victory, however, the Fleet would take the fourth set 25-16 to take home the match 3-1. 

Cabral once again led the offensive attack with 17 kills. Joao Victor Santos followed close behind with 15 kills and a team high nine digs. Also registering double digit kills was Luke Hansen with 11 kills. Aleksa Bijelic handed out 43 assists and had eight digs.

The Cobras will be back in action for the final day of play at the Coker Invitational on Saturday (March 5) at 1 p.m. against Alderson-Broaddus. This will be the only match of the day.

McDonald's Player of the Game – Artur Cabral