Box Score BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University men's volleyball team pulled into a first place tie in the Conference Carolinas standings after defeating Barton College on Friday night. In front of a sellout crowd, the Tornado defeated the league-leading Bulldogs 3-1 behind a .347 attack percentage.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 3, Barton 1 (25-17, 25-20, 21-25, 25-15)
LOCATION: Student Center Complex; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 18-5, 14-1 Conference Carolinas; Barton 18-7, 14-1
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Tornado opened the match with a balance attack, hitting a combined .407 in the opening set.
- King gradually extended their lead in the opening stanza with 3-0 spurts. Jon Wheaton started one with a block, followed by a Kiel Bell ace and Wheaton gave King a 17-10 lead with a block that forced a Barton timeout.
- Adrian Besson gave King the 25-17 victory with his second kill of the set.
- The second set was tight before the Tornado used a 4-0 run to turn a two-point deficit into a 15-13 lead.
- In all, King scored eight of 10 points, opening up a 19-15 lead following a Besson kill.
- The Tornado defense also stepped up in the second set, holding Barton to a .091 attack percentage.
- King took the set 25-20 behind a pair of Barton miscues.
- The Tornado trailed the majority of the third set, but came back to even the score at 16.
- However, the Bulldogs answered with three straight points and took the set 25-21 following a 4-1 run.
- Bell got the Tornado offense going in the fourth set and Nick Drooker served up an ace before Besson gave King a 5-1 lead with a kill. That kill also forced a Bulldog timeout.
- The Tornado never let off the gas, hitting a blistering .550 in the set, accounting for 13 kills on 20 attempts with two errors.
- Bell and Jeff Sprayberry each posted five kills in the set, leading the Tornado to the 25-15 win, taking the match 3-1.
- Bell paced the offense with 17 kills, hitting .483 in the match. He added a team-high eight digs.
- Sprayberry followed with 15 kills and six digs.
- Drooker handed out 47 assists and added seven digs.
- Ryan DeLong led the defense with eight digs and Besson posted four blocks.
FOR THE FOES
- Aleksa Brkovic and Angelos Mandilaris led the Bulldogs with 14 kills each. Mandilaries also added seven digs.
- Oscar Fiorentiono handed out 36 assists to go along with six digs.
- Tim Wiese led the defense with eight digs.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The .347 attack percentage marked the 11th time this season King has hit better than .300 in a match.
- The win ends Barton's 13-game winning streak and pulls King into a first place tie with the Bulldogs with one match remaining in the conference season.
UP NEXT
- King hosts the University of Mount Olive on Saturday at 12:00 p.m.
- Barton travels to Lees-McRae College on Saturday.
