PEMBROKE, N.C. – The King University women's volleyball team traveled to UNC Pembroke to take on ninth seed Chowan University in the Conference Carolinas Women's Volleyball Championship First Round on Sunday afternoon. The 10th-seeded Tornado took the 3-1 victory behind double-doubles from
Hailee Blankenship and
Katie Harless.
THE BASICS
FINAL: No. 10 King 3, No. 9 Chowan 1 (26-24, 25-19, 21-25, 25-17)
LOCATION: Lumbee Guaranty Bank Court; Pembroke, N.C.
RECORDS: King 11-16; Chowan 6-22
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- Chowan started the match with five straight points, but King fought back and evened the tally at 7-7 with a 7-2 spurt that was highlighted by a pair of Blankenship kills.
- King then used a 5-1 run, including four straight to take a 12-8 lead and force a Chowan timeout.
- The Hawks made a run in the middle of the set, turning a 14-10 Tornado lead into a 16-14 Chowan lead with the 6-0 spurt.
- King regained the lead with three straight points, started by a kill from Chloe Clayton and ace from Harless.
- Chowan fought back and evened the score at 23 and 24, but the Tornado scored the final two points as a Zephanie Snyder kill gave King the 26-24 victory.
Second Set
- King jumped out to a 4-1 lead behind a pair of Clayton kills and a Faith Morse ace.
- The Hawks called for a timeout after King took a 10-5 lead behind a two of Blankenship's seven kills in the set.
- The Tornado continued to gradually extend their lead as Chowan called their second timeout as King opened up a 17-11 lead.
- A pair of Gracia Love kills later gave King the 25-19 win to take a 2-0 lead.
Third Set
- The set was tight throughout, but Chowan tried to gain separation with a 4-0 run to take a 10-6 lead early in the set.
- King came back with fourth straight points to even the score at 10 on a Riley Nelson kill.
- Late in the set, Chowan stretched their lead to three points on multiple occasions, but the Tornado fought back each time and pulled within one point three times.
- However, King couldn't get any close as the Hawks took the set 25-21.
Fourth Set
- King made their move in the middle of the set, scoring three straight points on kills from Blankenship and Love and a block from Harless and Nelson to take a 9-7 lead.
- Another 3-0 spurt for the Tornado on two kills from Blankenship and another from Snyder gave King a 16-12 advantage.
- Love then posted three kills on a 5-1 run that put the Tornado ahead 23-16 before a Harless ace gave the Tornado the 25-17 win to take the match 3-1.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Blankenship led the offense with 21 kills and 16 digs while Harless posted a double-double as well with 41 assists and 19 digs.
- Gabri Puertas led the defense with 22 digs.
- Clayton and Love added nine kills each while Snyder chipped in with eight kills.
FOR THE FOES
- Chowan was led by Lyniah Lee who posted 14 kills.
- She was followed by 11 kills from Ellie Middleton and 10 kills from Caleigh Bergling.
- Bergling also posted 29 digs while Sydney Ginaitt handed out 23 assists and Morgan Tucker added 21 helpers.
UP NEXT
- King now faces fourth seed UNC Pembroke at 3:00 p.m. Sunday afternoon in the Conference Carolinas Women's Volleyball Championship Second Round.
