MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – The King University men's volleyball team traveled to Conference Carolinas leading University of Mount Olive and came away with a five-set victory on Saturday afternoon.
Joshua Kim and
JT Deppe registered new school records in kills and assists as the Tornado defeated the Trojans 3-2, including a 15-12 final set.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 3, Mount Olive 2 (21-25, 25-15, 25-22, 20-25, 15-12)
LOCATION: Kornegay Arena; Mount Olive, N.C.
RECORDS: King 7-6, 4-4 Conference Carolinas; Mount Olive 9-2, 8-2 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- King scored four straight points, capped by the first of seven kills in the set from Kim and a service ace from Jackson Carroll to take a 7-6 lead.
- The Tornado held a slight advantage throughout the set until a 4-0 Mount Olive run gave the Trojans a 21-17 lead en route to the 25-21 victory.
Second Set
- Kim then hit his stride in the second set, posting 10 kills on 17 attempts with only one error.
- Kim posted four kills in the first six points for the Tornado as Diego Marcano and Douglas Florencio helped the Tornado to a 6-3 lead early.
- The Tornado gained control of the set with four straight points started with kills from Aaron Milstead and Marcano.
- Marcano followed with consecutive blocks to give King a 13-8 lead.
- King then cruised to the 25-15 win as Kim's 10th kill of the set ended the frame.
Third Set
- Kim duplicated the feat in the third set, posting 10 kills, this time on 15 attempts against just two errors.
- Florencio, Carroll and Kim posted consecutive kills to vault the Tornado into a 14-12 lead in the middle of the set.
- King gradually extended the lead and took the set 25-22 to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
Fourth Set
- Kim started the fourth set with a kill and added two more in King's first nine points of the set to break the school record and give King a 9-6 lead.
- The Tornado led 11-7 following a Carroll kill, but the Trojans came back with four straight points.
- Mount Olive later went on a 4-0 run to take control of the set as they won the frame 25-20 to force a fifth set.
Fifth Set
- King jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the final set and held a 7-2 advantage following a Florencio block.
- Mount Olive used a pair of 3-0 runs to come back and even the tally at 10 before Milstead came up with a kill.
- Kim then recorded back-to-back kills before a block from Marcano and Milstead gave King a chance at match point with a 14-11 lead.
- Mount Olive scored a point, but a Milstead kill gave King the set 15-12 and the match 3-2.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Kim led the Tornado with 36 kills while hitting .433 in the match. On 67 attempts he only made seven errors. He added 10 digs for the double-double.
- Carroll followed with 13 kills and eight digs.
- Marcano posted a double-double with 10 kills and 14 digs.
- Deppe handed out 65 assists and added 17 digs for the double-double.
- Noah Melendez led the back row with 23 digs.
FOR THE FOES
- Luke Visgitis led Mount Olive with 16 kills while Tobi Azeez added 16 kills and 15 digs.
- Eric Visgitis posted 14 kills.
- Jarrod Ferguson handed out 34 assists and added seven digs while Iyanu Adebisi posted 12 digs.
- Ryan Lynch accounted for 14 digs.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Kim's 36 kills break the previous school record of 29 that was set by Jeff Sprayberry twice in the 2016 season.
- Deppe's 65 assists tops the previous mark of 64 set by Nick Drooker in 2017.
- Melednez's 23 digs also matched the school record, set by Ned Parker in 2013.
- The Tornado posted 77 digs in the match, breaking the NCAA National Collegiate record. The Previous mark of 75 was set first by Ball State University in 2014, and again by Limestone University in 2019.
- The double-double for Kim is his fourth of the season.
- Deppe posted his third double-double of the year as he recorded a career-high 17 digs.
- The double-double for Marcano is the first of his career as he posted a career-high 14 digs.
- For the second straight night, Melendez topped the 20-dig plateau and set a career-high with 23 digs.
UP NEXT
- King returns home to take on Queens University on Wednesday night. First serve is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
- Mount Olive travels to Queens on Thursday.
