Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 HARRISONBURG, Va. – Following a tough loss on Friday night, the King University men's volleyball team rebounded with a pair of wins on Saturday afternoon. The Tornado defeated Eastern Mennonite University 3-1 before topping Lancaster Bible College 3-1 later in the evening.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 3, Eastern Mennonite 1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-18, 25-22); King 3, Lancaster Bible 1 (26-24, 22-25, 25-10, 25-23)
LOCATION: Yoder Arena; Harrisonburg, Va.
RECORDS: King 4-1, Eastern Mennonite 1-2; Lancaster Bible 0-1
HOW IT HAPPENED – EASTERN MENNONITE
- The first set was tight, but King broke a 12-12 tie with a pair of points, including a Nick Drooker ace.
- Jeff Sprayberry later extended the lead to 18-15 with a kill.
- The Royals came back to get within 21-20, but the Tornado scored four of the final six points to take the set 25-22. Jon Wheaton had a pair of kills on the spurt.
- Eastern Mennonite opened up a 10-6 lead early in the second set before the Tornado came back to even the score at 13 with three straight points.
- However, the Royals broke a 14-14 tie with three consecutive points and extended their lead to 20-15 before King tried to make a run.
- The Tornado pulled back within 21-20, but couldn't get any closer as the Royals took the set 25-23.
- Eastern Mennonite kept the momentum going, scoring the first three points of the third set, but King answered with three straight points.
- Sean Luhmann started a 4-0 Tornado with a kill and Adrian Besson gave King a 10-5 advantage with a solo block.
- King held their lead there and earned their largest lead of the set at 21-12 following a Drooker stuff.
- The Tornado went on to take the set 25-18.
- In the fourth set, King turned a 4-3 deficit into a 6-4 lead following three straight points.
- King later broke a tie at 10-10 on a Moushikhian kill before Sprayberry ended the 4-0 run with another termination.
- The Tornado kept the lead there before holding off a late Eastern Mennonite run to take the set 25-22 and the match 3-1.
- Wheaton led King with 15 kills on 27 attempts with three errors to hit .444 in the match. He also added a match-high seven blocks.
- Sprayberry followed with 12 kills and 12 digs for the double-double.
- Drooker had a double-double as well, posting 39 assists and 11 digs.
- Jimmy Nuckolls led the defense with 13 digs.
FOR THE FOES
- Joshua Elmore posted 12 kills and 14 digs to lead Eastern Mennonite.
- Scott Brigham and Tim Callahan chipped in with 10 kills each.
- Christian Taylor handed out 36 assists and Colton Frey posted 12 digs.
HOW IT HAPPENED – LANCASTER BIBLE
- The Tornado fell behind early, but dug out of the hole eventually evening the tally at 13-13 on a block from Dalton Johnson and Matthew DeLong.
- King broke a tie at 18 with three straight points, including back-to-back aces from Wheaton.
- The score was again even at 23 and 24 before King scored consecutive points, the final coming on a Sprayberry kill, giving King the 26-24 victory.
- The second set was just as tight, but this time the Chargers scored the final three points to take the set 25-22.
- King rebounded with the first three points of the third set, including consecutive blocks from Wheaton and Moushkhian and Kiel Bell and Wheaton.
- The Tornado then opened up an 8-1 lead with five straight points.
- From their King continued to extend their lead as Adam Krzos gave King a chance at set point with a pair of kills. Tristen Luu gave King the 25-10 win with a service ace.
- King used four straight points to open up a 6-2 lead in the fourth set.
- The Tornado lead swelled to six points on a pair of occasions before Lancaster Bible scored five straight points to pull within 18-17.
- Sprayberry then registered consecutive kills to extend the Tornado lead.
- The teams traded points down the stretch and Sprayberry gave King the set 25-23 and the match 3-1 with a kill.
- Bell led King with 13 kills and 12 digs for the double-double.
- Sprayberry also recorded 13 kills and hit .417 with three errors on 24 attempts.
- Wheaton added eight kills, three digs and three blocks.
- Matthew DeLong led King with 38 assists and four digs.
- Ryan DeLong chipped in with nine digs.
FOR THE FOES
- Kole Horst and Kasey Gentry led Lancaster Bible with 12 kills each.
- Derek Bigley followed with 11 kills and Daniel Kreider chipped in with 10 kills.
- Kaleb Ansell led the way with 46 assists and Richard Solano registered 13 digs.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- King set season-highs with 14.0 blocks against Eastern Mennonite and 12.0 blocks against Lancaster Bible.
- The double-double for Bell was the second of his career. He last had 10 kills and 10 digs at McKendree University on March 14, 2014.
- The double-doubles for Sprayberry and Drooker are their first of the season. For Sprayberry it marked his seventh career double-double and for Drooker it was his 13 career double-double.
UP NEXT
- King opens Conference Carolinas play on Wednesday when they travel to Lees-McRae College. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
- Eastern Mennonite takes on Nazareth College on Friday night.
- Lancaster Bible hosts Alvernia University on Wednesday night.
