Box Score WILSON, N.C. – The King University men's volleyball team traveled to take on Barton College Saturday afternoon in a matchup of the only two teams left in Conference Carolinas with an undefeated conference record. Coming off of a long and exhausting five set match win over the University of Mount Olive last night, the Tornado not only battled a strong Barton squad, but fatigue as well and fell to the Bulldogs 3-0.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Barton 3, King 0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-20)
LOCATION: Wilson Gym; Wilson, N.C.
RECORDS: King 10-3, 7-1 Conference Carolinas; Barton 10-6, 8-0 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
- In the first set, Barton used a 6-1 run to gain an 11-6 advantage on King early on. However, the Tornado countered the run with a 4-1 run of their own to bring the set to 12-10 Bulldogs.
- Following the Tornado run, the Bulldogs used a 4-0 run to regain a solid lead over the Tornado, but just like earlier in the set, King responded with a 4-1 run again to cut the Tornado deficit to 17-14.
- A Jon Wheaton kill from Nick Drooker later in the set brought King to within five points, 22-17. But, the Bulldogs would go on to close out the Tornado in the first set 25-18.
- In the second set, following a Bulldog service error, King was able to tie the set up 10-10.
- Unfortunately, midway through the set, Barton used a 10-2 run to take a 22-14 lead over the Tornado.
- The deficit for King was too much to gain back as they fell 25-17 in the second set.
- Barton jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the third set, however, King rallied and used a 6-2 run to cut the Tornado deficit to 11-9. Adam Krzos capped off the run with a service ace for King.
- The Tornado countined to battle back and would eventually find themselves down only one point, 15-14, following a Jeff Sprayberry kill.
- A Kiel Bell kill made the final set 23-20, however, Barton scored back-to-back points to take the third set 25-20 and ultimately the match 3-0.
- Sprayberry led the Tornado with nine kills while Bell chipped in seven kills and six digs.
- Drooker posted 22 assists for King and Wheaton recorded five kills while hitting .333 and added four blocks.
- Ryan Delong recorded a season-high 12 digs for King.
FOR THE FOES
- Angelos Mandilaris led the way for Barton recording 18 kills while hitting .389 on the day.
- Aleksa Brkovic posted 13 kills and four digs for the Bulldogs.
- Oscar Fiorentino added 33 assists and 10 digs for Barton.
UP NEXT
- King travels to Lees-McRae College Wednesday, February 28 for a Conference Carolinas matchup that starts at 7:00 pm.
- Barton travels to Queens University March 2.
