MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – Heidi Busch led three players in double figures with 15 kills as Mount Olive defeated Coker 30-25, 30-23, 30-18 in Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference volleyball Wednesday at Kornegay Arena. The win extends Mount Olive’s home winning streak to 20 and moves the Trojans within a half-game of conference leader Lees-McRae.

Game one saw 14 ties and eight lead changes until Mount Olive (21-6 overall, 14-1 CVAC) broke away from a 14-14 tie to take the lead for good. Mallory Peavler’s ace sparked a scoring run as the Trojans built the lead to five before Coker (14-13, 13-4) pulled within 25-23. But Mount Olive scored the next four points and went on to win the first game. Anna Luft had four of her 14 kills in game one for the Trojans.

Mount Olive appeared to be in control of game two as the Trojans built a 28-15 lead. But Coker rallied for eight unanswered points, sparked by an ace by Kelsey Carlson and a double block by Tara Nelson and Margaret Madison. Luft’s kill ended the run and a Coker error gave Mount Olive a two-game lead.

The Trojans jumped out to an 8-1 lead in game three as Colby Mangum’s ace highlighted a run of seven unanswered points. Busch had seven kills and Mangum added five kills in the third game as Mount Olive built the lead to double digits at 18-8 and Coker never got any closer than nine points the rest of the way.

Mangum finished with 13 kills and three blocks for Mount Olive, while Luft added a match-high five blocks and a service ace. Nikki Murphy led the Trojans defensively with 20 digs.

Trojan setter Sara Christie tallied 38 assists to give her 5,577 for her career. Christie entered Wednesday’s match ranked No. 24 on the NCAA II all-time career assists list and is within 27 assists of breaking into the top 20. Busch increased her career kills total to 2,311, becoming only the ninth player in NCAA II history to surpass the 2,300-kill mark.

Margaret Madison led Coker with 10 kills and three blocks, while Megan Haupt and Andrea Manuel added eight kills apiece for the Cobras. Manuel recorded 14 digs and Carlson had 13 digs. Tara Nelson finished with 27 assists. The loss snapped Coker’s three-match winning streak.

Mount Olive, which posted an 11-0 mark at home in 2004, improved to 9-0 at home this season. The Trojans play their final home match next Wednesday.

Mount Olive returns to action Friday as the Trojans play three CVAC matches in three days. Mount Olive travels to Queens Friday, head to Limestone Saturday and closes out its road trip Sunday at Belmont Abbey. Coker plays host to Anderson in a CVAC match-up Friday at 6:30 p.m.