BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University men's volleyball team earned a thrilling win Saturday afternoon, holding off the University of Mount Olive for a five-set win.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 3, Mount Olive 2 (25-22, 20-25, 25-20, 20-25, 15-11)
LOCATION: Student Center Complex; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 13-14, 8-5 Conference Carolinas; Mount Olive 9-14, 5-8 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- The opening set was tight, but the Tornado held a 6-4 advantage early following back-to-back kills from Aaron Milstead and Warren Davis.
- Mount Olive came back and held a 16-13 lead midway through the set before a Tornado run.
- Milstead started the spurt with a kill and a block before a Sarnowski kill evened the tally.
- King regained the lead on consecutive Davis kills before an AJ Drooker kill gave King a 19-17 lead and forced a Trojan timeout.
- The Tornado maintained that advantage before another Sarnowski kill gave King a chance at set point as a Trojan error gave King the first set 25-22.
Second Set
- King jumped out to a 3-1 lead behind consecutive kills from Kellan Kennedy, Jackson Carroll and Drooker.
- Mount Olive scored three straight points, opening up a 10-7 lead and held a 15-11 advantage midway through the set.
- The Trojans extended their lead to 23-16 before three straight Tornado points forced a Mount Olive timeout.
- Nevertheless, Mount Olive scored two of the final three points to take the set 25-20.
Third Set
- King used a 4-1 run to take an 8-5 lead following a Davis kill.
- Mount Olive came back to even the set at 10 before Davis started a King spurt with a kill.
- The Trojans took a timeout following consecutive Tornado blocks, the first from Kennedy and Carroll before a Kennedy solo stuff gave King a 13-10 lead.
- The Tornado lead grew to 18-14 following a Colton Bueter ace as Mount Olive took their second timeout of the set.
- King went on to take the set 25-20 following a Milstead kill.
Fourth Set
- A Milstead kill and Drooker ace gave King an early 7-4 lead before the Trojans came back and evened the score at eight.
- The teams then traded points until Mount Olive took a 15-13 lead midway through the set.
- The Tornado were able to use a block by Milstead and Sarnowski, as well as a Davis kill to pull to within 20-18.
- Mount Olive would score five of the final seven points, including the final two points to take the set 25-20.
Fifth Set
- It was back-and-forth early, with the largest lead being a 6-4 Mount Olive lead.
- After trading points to make the score 7-5, King started to rally, as Milstead picked up a kill that started a 5-0 scoring run, putting the Tornado in front 10-7.
- Mount Olive would pull to within 12-11, but the Tornado took three straight points to end the match, including a service ace from Colton Bueter and one final block from Carroll and Milstead to end the match.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Davis finished with another double-double, posting 18 kills and 15 digs.
- Kennedy had 11 kills, with two digs, two solo blocks and five block assists.
- The Tornado had 56 total digs as a team, the most in a single match this season.
FOR THE FOES
- Tate Sandvig and Pedro Gonzalez both had 12 kills to lead the Trojans attack, while Constantinos lacovou added 11 kills.
- Trevor Teser had a team-high 13 digs, while lacovou had six block assists.
UP NEXT
- King closes the regular season on Thursday, April 13 against rival Lees-McRae College. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
- Mount Olive travels to Queens University on Tuesday night.
