BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University women's volleyball team took a pair of wins in the pool play portion of the Conference Carolinas Women's Volleyball Championship on Saturday. The second seeded Tornado defeated 10th-seed Southern Wesleyan University 3-1 before topping seventh-seed Erskine College 3-1.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 3, Southern Wesleyan 1 (25-16, 25-17, 21-25, 25-12); King 3, Erskine 1 (25-15, 21-25, 25-19, 26-24)
LOCATION: Student Center Complex; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 15-2; Southern Wesleyan 0-11; Erskine 4-10
HOW IT HAPPENED – SOUTHERN WESLEYAN
First Set
- A Julie Ward service ace capped a 6-0 Tornado run that gave King a 7-3 lead in the early going.
- Another 6-0 King run lifted the Tornado to a 16-9 advantage following a Brittney Ramsey kill.
- King later took the set 25-16 on an Abigail Shaffer kill.
Second Set
- The Tornado used four straight points to take a 7-5 lead as Allie Zimmerman started the spurt with a kill and a Kayley Holtzclaw kill capped the spurt.
- King closed the set on an 8-4 run to take the 25-17 victory.
Third Set
- Southern Wesleyan scored the first four points of the set, and took a 7-1 lead in the early going.
- King came back and pulled within 11-10, but the Warriors responded by scoring four of the next five points.
- The Tornado couldn't recover, falling 25-21.
Fourth Set
- The Tornado jumped out to a 4-1 lead, and later used a 6-0 run to take a 12-3 advantage. Zimmerman posted a pair of kills on the spurt.
- Zimmerman then capped a 5-0 run that gave King a 17-6 lead with another kill.
- King scored the final four points of the set, the last on a Ramsey kill to take the set 25-12 and the match 3-1.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Shaffer led the defense with a career-high 27 digs.
- Ward accounted for 11 kills and eight digs.
- Hailee Blankenship followed with 11 kills and seven digs.
- Ramsey added nine kills and five blocks while Holtzclaw posted nine kills.
- Georgia Davis recorded a double-double with 23 assists and 13 digs.
- Katie Harless posted 20 assist and 13 digs for the double-double.
FOR THE FOES
- Olivia Johnson led Southern Wesleyan with 12 kills and 20 digs.
- Ashlyn Holford posted nine kills and five digs.
- Kaylyn Woods registered 13 digs while Jesse Soles add 11 digs.
HOW IT HAPPENED – ERSKINE
First Set
- The teams went back-and-forth early until King gain separation with a 5-0 spurt.
- Ward gave King a 16-10 lead with a kill at the end of the run.
- King then scored four straight, and six of the final seven points to take the set 25-15 on back-to-back kills from Holtzclaw and Blankenship.
Second Set
- Ward and Ramsey started the set with kills before three straight terminations from Davis gave King a 5-1 lead.
- King led 7-2 before Erskine began to work their way back. The Flying Fleet evened the score at nine and took an 11-10 lead.
- Erskine then scored four straight points to take a 20-16 lead as they went on to take the set 25-21.
Third Set
- Kill from Ward and Ramsey gave King a 3-0 lead, and the Tornado stretched that advantage of 7-2.
- Four straight points stretched the King lead to 19-11 following a Blankenship kill as King went on to take the set 25-19.
Fourth Set
- Erskine had the advantage early, but the Tornado came back and evened the score at 11 with a 3-0 spurt.
- King used another 3-0 run to take a 14-12 lead.
- Another 3-0 King spurt lifted the Tornado from a 20-18 deficit to a 21-20 lead following a Ramsey kill.
- The teams traded side outs until back-to-back kills from Ward and Zimmerman gave King the 26-24 win to take the match 3-1.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Ward led King with 17 kills and 15 digs.
- Ramsey followed with a career-high 12 kills and an attack percentage of .579.
- Blankenship added 10 kills and 10 digs for the double-double.
- Davis chipped in with 20 assists, 10 digs and five kills.
- Harless added 22 assists and 11 digs.
- Shaffer led the defense with 21 digs.
UP NEXT
- The wins advance King to a Conference Carolinas Women's Volleyball Championship semifinal next weekend.
- The second-seeded Tornado will take on sixth seed Barton College at 5:00 p.m. in the Student Center Complex.
