BANNER ELK, N.C. – The King University men's volleyball team fell at rival Lees-McRae College on Tuesday night. The Bobcats came back to win the final two sets, including the fifth set 18-16 to hand King their first Conference Carolinas defeat of the season.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Lees-McRae 3, King 2 (25-21, 23-25, 25-27, 25-15, 18-16)
LOCATION: Williams Gymnasium; Banner Elk, N.C.
RECORDS: King 8-9, 3-1 Conference Carolinas; Lees-McRae 6-3, 3-0 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- King jumped out to a 6-2 lead following a pair of Warren Davis aces and Jackson Carroll kill.
- Carroll later give King an 8-3 lead before the Bobcats started chipping away.
- Lees-McRae pulled within one, before King extended the lead and an AJ Drooker ace gave the Tornado a 16-12 lead.
- However, the Bobcats scored six straight points to take an 18-16 lead before a Davis kill.
- The teams then traded points until Lees-McRae scored the final three points to take the set 25-21.
Second Set
- Lees-McRae raced out to a 4-1 lead and held that advantage through the first half of the set.
- A Sean Haberthy kill started a 5-0 run as a Drooker ace evened the score at 14 and forced a Lees-McRae timeout.
- Three consecutive points later gave King a 17-15 lead before extending the lead to 21-16 following another 3-0 run.
- Lees-McRae pulled within one on three occasions down the stretch, but King held on to win the set 25-23.
Third Set
- The Tornado jumped out to a 6-1 lead following a block from Drooker and Kellan Kennedy.
- Lees-McRae chipped away at the deficit and eventually evened the score at 10.
- King held the advantage for the majority of the set before the Bobcats scored back-to-back points to take a 19-18 lead.
- King later took a 24-23 behind consecutive points and took the set 27-25 on back-to-back kills from Davis.
Fourth Set
- Lees-McRae used a 5-0 run to take a 13-9 lead and extended the advantage throughout the set.
- The Bobcats won the set 25-15, forcing a fifth set.
Fifth Set
- Lees-McRae scored the first six points of the final set before the Tornado started to chip away.
- A Carroll kill and block followed by a Drooker kill pulled King within 8-5.
- King pulled within 10-8 following a block from Jack Sarnowski and Haberthy before the teams traded points.
- However, Lees-McRae stretched the lead back out to 13-9 before King went on a run.
- King scored five of the next six points, including four straight to take a 15-14 lead.
- The Tornado later led 16-15, but the Bobcats scored the final three points to take the set 18-16 and the match 3-2.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Davis led King with 18 kills while Carroll followed with 13 terminations.
- Sarnowski handed out 35 assists to go along with six digs and four blocks.
FOR THE FOES
- Michael Marsans led the Bobcats with 22 kills while M.J. Doyle followed with 11 kills.
- Ace Backer and Sebastian Heer added nine kills apiece.
- Bradley Peters handed out 53 assists and Ben Ratliff-Becher led the way with eight digs.
UP NEXT
- King stays on the road to take on Belmont Abbey College on Thursday. First serve from Belmont, N.C. is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
- Lees-McRae hosts Fort Valley State University on Thursday night.
