Box Score MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – Coming off a tough five set loss to Barton College, the King University men's volleyball team took the court again for the second time in as many days against the University of Mount Olive. The Tornado was able to win the first two sets before dropping one and finalized the match in four behind the strong play of Nick Serowski and Stephen Brown.
King got on the board first and the scoring went back and forth till the Tornado tallied five straight points forcing a Trojans timeout leading 9-4. Mount Olive got within three but an Eddie Moushikhian kill gave the Tornado a two point advantage at 11-9. A Serowski service ace gave King a five point advantage at 16-11 before Mount Olive recorded two points to narrow the lead back to three. Back-to-back attack errors from the Trojans gave the Tornado a five and six point advantage, leading 21-15. King held a 23-19 lead before Mount Olive posted three straight points but Serowski came up big with a kill off a pass from Drooker to bring the score to 24-22. Once again, the Trojans tallied two points tying the set up at 24-24 but it would not be enough as a Mason Casner kill and a Mount Olive attack error gave King set one, 27-25.
Stephen Brown got the Tornado on the board first in set two before Mount Olive recorded two points to take the lead. A Jeff Sprayberry service ace lengthened the Tornado lead to 9-5 and a Mount Olive attack error lengthened the King lead to 17-11. Another Brown kill gave King a 20-13 and Matthew Lyhcock took a pass from Drooker and sent it down to gain a nine point advantage at 24-15. Mount Olive would record four straight points but a Lychock kill earned the Tornado set two, 25-19.
Set three did not go as planned for the Tornado as Mount Olive raced out to a 7-2 lead forcing a King timeout. The Trojans achieved a nine point lead at 20-11 but King would not back down as they registered six points in a row capped off by a Sprayberry kill forcing a Mount Olive timeout. The Tornado got within two at 23-21 but it would not be enough as King fell in set three, 25-22.
In the final set of the afternoon, the Tornado went down early before Serowski delivered a kill trailing 6-2. Mount Olive held the lead till an attack error tied the set up at 19. Another attack error gave the Tornado their first lead of the set and King scored the final four points of the set, winning 25-21 and taking the match 3-1.
Leading the way for the Tornado was Brown with 10 kills and 12 digs recording a double-double. Serowski added 11 kills in the contest while Chandler Wellmann delivered 10 digs. Drooker posted 45 assists in the outing. As a team, King hit .258 while Mount Olive hit at a percentage of .140. The Tornado recorded five service aces in the contest.
