BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University men's volleyball team closed out the regular season with a 3-1 win over the University of Mount Olive Saturday afternoon. The win is the fifth straight for the Tornado, who now turn their eyes to the Conference Carolinas tournament.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 3, Mount Olive 1
LOCATION: Student Center Complex; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 17-11, 11-3 Conference Carolinas; Mount Olive 13-6, 11-3 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- The opening set was close early, with Mount Olive taking a 7-4 lead.
- After a Trojans service error, Aaron Milstead picked up a kill to get the Tornado to within 7-6.
- King would tie the set at 8 on back-to-back kills from Milstead and Joshua Kim.
- The Tornado would take the lead for good at 11-10 off a Mount Olive service error.
- King held a 17-15 lead when they rattled off three straight points, with Kim and Suetonius Harris both recording kills to take a 20-15 lead.
- After King took a 23-16 lead, the Trojans scored three straight points to get to within 23-19, but the Tornado pulled out the set, with Ryan Sumarsono getting a service ace to clinch the win.
Second Set
- Just like set 1, the second set saw both teams keeping the score close early, with King taking a 9-8 lead off a service ace from Kim.
- The lead would eventually get to 15-11 on a kill from Harris, before the Tornado stretched it to 21-16 a short time later thanks to another kill from Milstead.
- After a Trojans kill, and service error made the score 22-17, Kim recorded a kill to make the score 23-17, after which both teams traded points.
- The Tornado finally put the set away on a Mount Olive service error, taking a 25-19 win.
Third Set
- Set 3 was similarly close, with neither team taking a lead larger than five, which came when the Trojans had a 16-11 lead.
- The Tornado slowly started to rally, eventually scoring three straight points to cut the advantage to 19-18.
- After King tied the set at 22, a service error combined with an attack error gave Mount Olive set point, up 24-22.
- King scored off a service error to make the score 24-23, but a kill from the Trojans gave them the set win, 25-23.
Fourth Set
- After falling behind early, King took a 6-5 lead on a kill from JT Deppe that started a streak of the Tornado scoring five consecutive points to go up 10-5.
- The lead would eventually be stretched to 17-9, before a quick point for the Trojans made it 17-10.
- Harris picked up another kill to put the Tornado up 18-10, and kickstarting a 3-0 run that saw the lead go to 20-10.
- King was up 24-16 when Kellan Kennedy recorded his 11th kill of the match, this one winning the set 25-16, and the match 3-1.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Harris led all attackers, finishing with 19 kills. Kim had 15, while Kennedy ended up with 11.
- Deppe and Kennedy both had four block assists on the match.
- Sarnowski handed out 51 set assists, his third-most of the season and the second time this year he has cleared 50 assists against the Trojans.
FOR THE FOES
- Eric Visgitis finished with 11 kills for the Trojans, while Tobi Azeez had 10 and Luke Visgitis had eight.
- Jarrod Ferguson had 38 set assists, while E. Visgitis and Jarrod Ferguson both had four blocks.
UP NEXT
- Both teams now turn their sights to the Conference Carolinas tournament, with King likely to be the no. 2 seed. Final seedings, and the tournament bracket, will be released by Conference Carolinas following the conclusion of all of this weekend's matches.
