Cobras to Battle Railsplitters in Senior Night Matchup

HARTSVILLE, S.C.- The Coker College men's volleyball hosts Lincoln Memorial on Friday, April 6 in their last home match of 2018. The Cobras (12-8) look to end the regular season on a three-game win streak.

Three Cobras have surpassed the 200 kill mark this season: Joao Victor Santos (293), Stephen Porras (234), and Gabriel Castro (225). Aleksa Bijelic is having a fantastic season with 714 assists in 20 matches for 9.04 assist per set. Santos also leads at the service line with 45 aces, followed by Porras with 35. Gary Baker and Bijelic head up the dig category with 188 and 140, respectively. Santos and Parker Oldham have been forces at the net combining for 97 total blocks.

The match will also serve as the Senior Night for Bijelic and Baker.

Bijelic is the son of Rajka and Zoran Bijelic and is majoring in graphic design. The Subotica, Serbia native has played in 85 matches and 284 sets in his four-year career. He has 92 kills on a .250 hitting percentage. His 2,405 assists put him first in the Coker records and the 40 service aces place him eighth. Bijelic's 349 digs are good for fourth, while his 66 block assists rank him sixth. His career match highs include: 4 kills, 15 digs, 57 assists, four total blocks, and four service aces.

Baker is majoring in sport management and is the son of Mary Anne Mazauskas and Gary Baker. The Altamonte Springs, Fla. native has played in 67 matches and 197 sets in his four-year Coker career. In his time as a Cobra, Baker has collected 29 kills, 96 assists, six service aces, 11 total blocks, and 395 digs (second in the Coker record book). His career match highs are 6 kills, 20 digs, seven assists, two total blocks, and one ace. Baker's 20 digs at Erskine this season set a new Coker match record. He is on track to break the dig per set season record, and with six more digs, he will create the new season dig record. He holds the previous mark at 2.21 in 2017. At 2.38 digs per set, Baker is ranked 15th in the NCAA.

While Bijelic and Baker have been Cobras, the team has created multiple Coker records. For season marks, they hold the marks in kills per set, digs per set, assists per set record, aces, aces per set (1st nationally in 2016), solo blocks (2nd nationally in 2017), and block assists. In match records, they have helped with 29 aces, 65 assists, 17 total blocks, and broke the dig record in 2018 with 63.

As of April 4, the Navy and Gold lead the nation with 2.00 aces per set. They rank 15th and 16th in the nation in opponent hitting percentage (.222) and digs per set (9.42), respectively.

Individually, Porras sits at 13th nationally in aces per set (.443) with Baker at 15th in digs per set (2.38). Santos has three top-13 nationwide rankings thus far. He is third in aces per set (.570), fifth in points per set (4.72), and 13th in kills per set (3.71)

The Railsplitters come in with a 11-12 record (2-9 away). Evan Cory has 285 kills to lead the offense. Their setter AJ Risavy has 713 assists, with the blocking category headed up by Pedro Carvalho's 125 total blocks.

First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m against Lincoln Memorial.

Tickets for the match are $5 for adults, $3 for students and free to all Coker faculty, staff and students. Live stats and video can be found at www.cokercobras.com.