WILSON, N.C. – The King University women's volleyball team fell to Barton on Saturday afternoon. Barton won the first two sets before King forced a fifth set by winning the third and fourth sets, but fell short for the match win.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 2, Barton 3 (24-26, 13-25, 25-21, 25-15, 8-15)
LOCATION: Wilson Gymnasium, Wilson, N.C.
RECORDS: King 4-7, 2-5 Conference Carolinas | Barton 3-12, 2-7 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- King jumped out to an 8-4 lead before Barton tied the set at 12.
- The Tornado got another lead including kills by Zephanie Snyder, Izzy Krick and Amaya Hall.
- Once again the Barton Bulldogs tied the game and took a 23-21 lead.
- King forced extra points but ended up falling 24-26 with a Barton kill and service ace.
- Krick finished the first set with 4 kills while Kylie Love tallied 7 digs.
Second Set
- The Bulldogs began the second set with a 7-1 lead, the first King point coming from Princess Emma Oluwa's kill.
- The Tornado struggled offensively as Barton ran away with the 13-25 victory.
- Capri Johnson led the small offensive effort with 3 kills.
Third Set
- Facing a sweep, the Tornado came back strong with their third set performance. King never trailed as they held off a Barton comeback attempt late in the set and won 25-21.
- Gracia Love had 5 kills and Johnson added 4 of her own.
- Bailey Fersner had the only block in the set while Sydnee Pendland, Kylie Love, and Gabri Puertas had four digs each to help the defensive efforts of the Tornado to maintain the lead.
Fourth Set
- King came back and tied the match with a fourth set win.
- While the beginning of the set was close, King led from a kill from Gracia Love gave them the 3-2 lead.
- The Tornado continued to extend their lead but a kill from Love and an attack error on Barton set up Fersner for her ace that ended the match and sent the match into the fifth and final set.
- Fersner had 5 kills, the ace, and two digs in the set. Gracia Love and Riley Nelson each added 4 kills while Kylie Love had the only other ace of the set.
Fifth Set
- Riley Nelson's kill gave King a 4-0 lead to continue their momentum, but Barton quickly turned the tide. The Bulldogs scored nine of the next ten points to take a 9-5 lead.
- Barton would allow the Tornado to score just three more times as they scored 6 to secure the 15-8 win.
- Fersner once again led the King offense with 2 kills.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
FOR THE FOES
- Henly Sleight had a match-high 18 kills while teammate Lauryn Pitt had 16. Sleight also had 15 digs for a double-double.
- The Bulldogs had a total of 8 aces from five different players.
- Lily Meyer had 31 digs while Hailey Strey recorded 32 assists.
UP NEXT
The Tornado will be back home on Tuesday for a match against Converse. The October 15 match is set to start at 7 p.m. inside the Student Center Complex.
