NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The King University women's volleyball team dropped their season-opening match Friday morning, falling to Lincoln Memorial University 3-1 in the opening match of the Ray Thrasher Classic.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Lincoln Memorial 3, King 1 (25-15, 22-25, 25-18, 25-19)
LOCATION: Trojan Fieldhouse; Nashville, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 0-1, Lincoln Memorial 1-0
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- The Railsplitters jumped out to a 4-0 lead, before Abigale Jayne recorded a kill to make the score 4-1.
- Hailee Blankenship would post a kill a short time later, making the score 6-2.
- After falling behind 10-3, the Tornado made a run, as Blankenship, Jayne and Kara Miller recorded kills to make the score 13-6.
- Late in the set, the Tornado scored three unanswered points, with a pair of attack errors and a kill by Abigail Belcher getting King to within 20-13.
- LMU would close the set on a 5-2 run, winning the set 25-15.
Second Set
- LMU started the second set on a 5-1 run, but that is where things came alive for the Tornado, as they got to within 6-4 thanks to back-to-back service aces from Jayne.
- After a Blankenship kill tied the set at 8, she recorded another kill to give King a 9-8 lead.
- The Tornado lead would stretch to 14-10 on the strength of a kill from Jayne and a service ace from Blankenship, but LMU would tie the set at 16, before taking a 17-16 lead.
- Back-to-back errors from the Railsplitters gave King another lead, this one 18-17.
- After an LMU timeout with king leading 22-18, the Tornado closed out the set, with three LMU errors handing the Tornado a 25-22 set win.
Third Set
- The third set was back-and-forth, with neither team able to gain a very large advantage.
- Miller had an early kill to give King a 3-2 lead, which they extended to 6-3 a short time later.
- After going back-and-forth, the Tornado held a 17-16 lead thanks to a kill by Belcher, but LMU would score five consecutive points to take a 21-17 lead.
- Blankenship had another kill to get the Tornado to within 21-18, but they were unable to come all the way back, falling 25-18.
Fourth Set
- LMU started the set by scoring eight consecutive points before three consecutive attack errors got the Tornado to within 8-3.
- After the Railsplitters jumped out to a 19-9 lead, the Tornado began to rally, as Blankenship and Miller had back-to-back kills to make the score 19-11.
- LMU would break the mini run with a kill, but King then scored three consecutive points, with Miller kicking things off with a kill.
- The Tornado were trailing 23-15 when Blankenship picked up a kill to kickstart what would end up being a 4-0 run to get King to within 23-19, with Blankenship recording two kills and Zephanie Snyder adding one.
- The Railsplitters would withstand the onslaught however, as they scored the final two points to win the set 25-19, and the match 3-1.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Blankenship led the way for King, posting a double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs, with a pair of block assists as well.
- Jayne finished just shy of a double-double, totaling eight kills and 10 digs in the match.
- Katie Harless dished out 34 set assists.
FOR THE FOES
- Abigail Kesler led all players with 15 kills, while Maggie Sanderson added 10.
- Kristen Moehring had 18 digs, with MJ Trujillo contributing 14 and Emma Winford recording 11.
Up Next
- The Tornado are back in action at 4 p.m. against the University of Alabama-Huntsville.
- LMU is back on the floor at 6 p.m. against Christian Brothers University
