Box Score DUE WEST, S.C. – For the second time in as many years, the King University women's volleyball team will play for their first NCAA Division II Tournament berth on Saturday after the Tornado defeated Limestone College 3-1 on Friday night in the Conference Carolinas Tournament semifinal. None of the four sets were decided by more than four points with Summer Kremer notching another double-double as King avenged an early season loss to Saints.
Limestone (16-16) grabbed the early lead before Grace Underwood ignited a 10-2 run with her first of 10 kills in the match to even the score at 4-4. Payton Tipton followed with a service ace to turn a 4-1 deficit into a 6-4 lead for the Tornado (22-10). Underwood added two more kills on the run that put the Tornado ahead 11-6. The Saints responded with a 6-2 run to pull within 13-12, but Sarah Collins answered with a one of her seven kills. After Limestone evened the set a 17, King scored back-to-back points to grab the lead, and Lauren Willoughby registered consecutive kills, followed by an Olivia Underwood termination to give King a 22-18 lead. After Kremer gave King a chance a set point with her second kill of the set, Grace Underwood made it a 25-22 win for the Tornado with another kill.
The second set was much tighter with 13 ties and five lead changes. Kremer evened the frame at 21 with a kill before King forced a Limestone timeout with another point to take a 22-21 lead. However, the timeout proved to be timely as the Saints scored four of the next five points to take the set 25-23.
The Tornado had to comeback from another deficit in the third set as they trailed 14-10 before they started to gradually work their way back. Kremer pulled King within one before the Tornado evened the set at 16. The Tornado then held a slim 18-17 lead before the teams began to trade points until King got back-to-back points to stretch their advantage to 23-21. Kremer registered her sixth kill of the set to give King a chance at set point as the Tornado took the set 25-22.
Limestone didn't show signs of letting up in the fourth set as they raced out to a 7-1 lead. However, just as King did earlier in the match, they worked their way out of the hole, and finally evened the set at 13 after consecutive kills from Kremer and Collins. Kremer added two more to give King a 15-13 lead and force Limestone timeout. Back-to-back kills from Grace Underwood gave King a 19-15 advantage as the teams started to trade points down the stretch. Collins then gave King a chance at set point with a kill, and a Limestone attack error gave King the 25-21 victory to take the match 3-1.
Kremer posted yet another double-double, posting team-highs of 21 digs and 19 kills. Tipton and Casey Williams also had solid days in the back row as Tipton accounted for 20 digs and Williams racked up 19 digs. Willoughby added 11 kills for the offense while Grace Underwood posted a .500 attack percentage, going for 10 kills on 18 attempts with one error. Olivia Underwood dished out 49 assists to go along with eight digs.
With the win, King moves on to face south division champion and "final four" host Erskine College on Saturday night. First serve from Due West is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Conference Carolinas and Erskine will provide live stats and live video for the contest with the links being found on KingTornado.Com. King handed the Flying Fleet their second conference loss last Saturday at Belk Arena in the regular season, 3-1.
