DUE WEST, S.C. – The no. 6 King University men's volleyball team won their first road match of the year Tuesday, stunning no. 3 Erskine 3-1 in the quarterfinals of the Conference Carolinas men's volleyball tournament.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 3, Erskine 1 (22-25, 25-21, 27-25, 27-25)
LOCATION: Belk Arena; Due West, S.C.
RECORDS: King 7-20, 4-10 Conference Carolinas; Erskine 13-11, 9-5 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- A pair of attack errors by the Flying Fleet gave the Tornado a quick 2-0 lead, which they held until Erskine took a 9-8 lead.
- After falling behind 11-8, King scored four of the next five points, tying the set at 12 on an Aiden Olson service ace.
- Erskine took a 15-14 lead heading into a timeout, a lead they would hold through the remainder of the set, winning the set 25-22.
Second Set
- The set was tied at five when the Tornado scored nine of the next 13 points, taking a 14-9 lead.
- After King stretched the lead to 18-11, the Flying Fleet got back to within 21-17 before a Warren Davis kill ended the Erskine scoring run.
- The Tornado had set point, up 24-21 when Kellan Kennedy picked up a kill, ending the set with King winning 25-21, evening the match at one.
Third Set
- The Flying Fleet took an early 5-2 lead, which they held util a 4-0 King scoring run saw them take a 15-14 lead heading into a timeout.
- King took their largest lead of the set at 22-20, eventually reaching set point at 24-23.
- Both teams had a chance at set point, with King scoring the final three points, including kills by Olson, Kennedy and Davis to close the set with a 27-25 win, taking a 2-1 match lead.
Fourth Set
- After being a back-and-forth set early, the Tornado took what at the time was their largest lead of the set at 18-15 after scoring three straight points, forcing Erskine to call timeout.
- The Tornado eventually took a 21-17 lead, though Erskine pulled to within 22-21, eventually pulling even at 23.
- King had three set points, and finally got a kill from Davis and a match-ending service ace from AJ Drooker to win the set 27-25, and the match 3-1.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Davis finished with a double-double, with 23 kills and 10 digs, along with three set assists.
- Drooker had 14 kills, with Kennedy adding 10 on the night.
- Aiden Olson handed out 48 set assists.
FOR THE FOES
- Pablo Zamar had 19 kills to lead the Flying Fleet, with Edgerrin Austin adding 18.
- Mikey Widmyer had 15 digs on the night.
UP NEXT
- King now advances to the semifinals of the Conference Carolinas men's volleyball tournament, where they will get a rematch of last year's conference championship match, as they will face no. 2 North Greenville at 7:30 p.m. in North Charleston, S.C.
