Box Score BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King Tornado held off a third-set challenge from Erskine Wednesday night to pick up their fifth straight win, and their 13th consecutive conference win.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King University 3, Erskine College 0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-23)
LOCATION: Student Center Complex; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 6-5, 1-0 Conference Carolinas; Erskine 3-10, 0-1 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- King opened the match on a 3-0 run, starting with a Julie Ward kill and a Katie Harless service ace.
- King would eventually build their lead to 8-2 before the Flying Fleet went on a run of their own, getting the Tornado lead down to 9-6.
- Hailee Blankenship got the Tornado back on track, recording a kill that made it 10-6 and kicked off a 4-0 King run that saw a kill from Allie Zimmerman to stretch the lead to 13-6.
- King would end up taking the first set 25-16 thanks in part to Blankenship and Zimmerman, who both had three kills.
Second Set
- Erskine started the second set on a better note, taking an early lead, though King kept things close.
- The momentum started to shift partway through the set when King went on a brief 6-1 run that gave them a 12-7 lead. Ward had three kills during the stretch along with a Harless service ace.
- King would go on to score the final four points of the set, capping things off with kills from Ward and Ramsey and a final service ace to take the set.
Third Set
- King started the third set with a 6-0 run, but after an Erskine timeout it was the Flying Fleet who came roaring back, eventually taking a 17-14 lead over the Tornado, forcing King to take a timeout.
- Coming out of the timeout, Blankenship started to right the ship, as she recorded another kill to stop the Erskine run.
- The teams would battle over the next few points before King finally managed to tie things at 23 after a Georgia Davis service ace.
- After Erskine called their final timeout, Blankenship recorded back-to-back kills to end the set, with assists going to Ward and Davis.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The win is the fifth straight win for King, and their 12th straight conference win. This is their longest win streak since they won 13 straight conference matches at the end of the 2019 season.
- Blankenship finished the match with four service aces, tying her career high for a single-match. She now has 29 total aces in her career.
- Ward had another standout match, leading the way with 12 kills. She has recorded double-digit kills in every match this season except for two.
- Kara Miller finished with a team-high three blocks, giving her 20 blocks on the season.
FOR THE FOES
- Erskine had two players finish with eight kills (Meredith Hollinger and Kalie Tuisamatatele).
- Tuisamatatele was the lone player to record multiple blocks for the Flying Fleet, as she recorded two.
Up Next
- The Tornado are off until Sunday, when they host Converse for their third-straight match inside the Student Center. First serve is set for 3:00 p.m.
- Erskine will start a four-match homestand Friday night against Belmont Abbey.
