Box Score BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University men's volleyball team fell to Barton College in a gritty five set match. After dropping the first set, the Tornado came back to win two straight sets but were unable to hold on as the Bulldogs rallied back taking the final two. Jeff Sprayberry posted a match-high 23 kills for the Tornado, while also recording 11 digs.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Barton 3, King 2 (25-23, 23-25, 17-25, 25-22, 15-13)
LOCATION: Student Center Complex; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 7-23, 4-13 Conference Carolinas; Barton 19-5; 13-3 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Jon Wheaton set the pace of the match early with a kill from Nick Drooker to grab King the first advantage.
- The Bulldogs were able to answer back as each team relentlessly fought to take the lead and traded kills for the first 14 points of the game, tied 7-7.
- The Tornado were able to break away from the Bulldogs, sparked by a kill from Sean Luhmann that led to a 7-3 King run to go up 14-10 and force a Barton timeout.
- Barton was able to adjust with the timeout, laying down a 6-1 run to take the lead from King now with a 17-15 advantage.
- King then used a timeout to slow the Bulldogs momentum and started to close in on the gap Barton had built, led by a couple Sprayberry kills to get King within one.
- Matthew Lychock then hammered one down to tie the set 22-22 but King was unable to hold on dropping set one 25-23.
- Similarly to the beginning of set one the relentless attack continued from both sides of the net.
- The largest lead of the set came when Barton took an 11-8 advantage off a King error.
- King did not stay behind long as a block from Wheaton and Drooker gave King the lead at 13-12.
- Sprayberry grabbed the Tornado set point off a kill from Drooker and King took set two off a Barton error.
- The battle continued in the third set as the Tornado found themselves with an early disadvantage 7-5 but Sprayberry posted the equalizing kill 7-7 and the Tornado grabbed the lead and did not look back.
- Back-to-back service aces from Drooker gave the Tornado a five point cushion down the stretch up 19-14.
- A stuff at the net from Lychock and Luhmann advanced the Tornado lead to 23-15 and Luhmann and Sprayberry sealed the deal with back-to-back kills to take the set 25-17.
- Both teams refused to slow down as the fourth set was again played aggressively on both sides of the net.
- After dropping to an early disadvantage down 9-5 the Tornado rallied back to tie the set off a Luhmann kill and then took the lead 13-11 on back-to-back stuffs from Drooker and Wheaton.
- A Bulldog ace and kill to take a 20-18 lead forced a King time out and the Tornado answered with a kill from Wheaton and forced a Barton error that tied the set 22-22.
- The Bulldogs then took the set on back-to-back blocks, 25-22.
- The final set did not fall short of the performance that was put on in the first four sets as neither team allowed the other more than a three point advantage.
- A couple Tornado errors gave the Bulldogs a 4-1 cushion in the beginning of the set that the Tornado were able to rally back from as a Adrian Besson kill tied the set 5-5.
- Another King error lifted the Bulldog lead to three again, now up 9-6.
- At the net Wheaton and Luhmann recorded a block to close in on the Bulldog lead now trailing 9-8.
- The Bulldogs again advanced their lead to three and the Tornado answered with a Sprayberry kill and a Wheaton and Drooker block, now down 12-11.
- Barton then answered back with a kill and a block to go up 14-11 and the Tornado fell in set three off a service error, 15-13.
- Sprayberry recorded a double-double with 23 kills and 11 digs.
- Wheaton chipped in seven kills, hitting .357, and tallied eight blocks.
- Drooker dished out 42 assists and recorded five stuffs.
FOR THE FOES
- The Bulldogs had three players post double figure kills, lead by Tang-Taye with 21 and 12 digs.
- Mandilais added 14 and Leary chipped in 11 for Barton.
- Perez contributed six kills, hitting .667 in the match.
UP NEXT
- The Tornado return to the court tomorrow morning for Senior Day at 11:00 to take on the University of Mount Olive.
- Barton travels tomorrow to take on Lees-McRae
