BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University men's volleyball team earned a solid Conference Carolinas victory on Wednesday night, defeating North Greenville University in five sets. The match was tight through, the Tornado escaped the fifth set victory 15-13.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 3, North Greenville 2 (25-20, 20-25, 25-23, 16-25, 15-13)
LOCATION: Student Center Complex; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 6-4, 3-2 Conference Carolinas; North Greenville 5-2, 3-2 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- King scored three straight points early in the first set as a block from Aaron Milstead, Joshua Kim and JT Deppe evened the score at 8-8.
- Both teams then did a good job at getting a sideout as neither team scored more than two straight points until late in the set.
- King scored four straight points to take a 22-19 lead following a block from Douglas Florencio and Diego Marcano.
- The Tornado then scored the final three points on a block from Marcano and Florencio, and kills from Deppe and Jackson Carroll to take the set 25-20.
Second Set
- The second set was just as tight in the early going, but North Greenville used a 9-2 run to open up a 16-11 lead in the middle of the frame.
- King couldn't get any closer the remainder of the set as the Crusaders took the set 25-20 and evened the match.
Third Set
- In the middle of the third set, a Milstead kill sparked a 5-0 Tornado run that vaulted King into a 12-9 lead.
- North Greenville later came back with a 4-0 run to even the tally at 16.
- King trailed 18-17 before rolling off three straight point as a Marcano kill gave King a 20-18 lead.
- Kim later gave King the 25-23 victory with his third kill of the set.
Fourth Set
- The Crusaders jumped out to a 7-4 advantage in the fourth set and later led 14-9 before King scored three straight points.
- A Milstead aced pulled King within 14-12, and a Marcano kill kept the Tornado within two, but North Greenville answered with four straight points.
- King couldn't recover as North Greenville took the set 25-16.
Fifth Set
- Consecutive kills from Kim and Carroll got the Tornado offense rolling in the fifth set as a block from Marcano and Florencio gave King a 5-2 lead.
- The Tornado lead grew to 8-3 and King led 10-6 following a block from Deppe and Florencio.
- However, the Crusaders had one last run in them.
- North Greenville scored six of the next seven points to take a 12-11 lead.
- Nevertheless, Kim came up with a kill to even the score before capping the 15-13 victory with two more kills.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Kim paced the offense with 16 kills and five digs.
- Marcano followed with 11 kill, nine digs and four blocks.
- Deppe recorded 39 assists, nine digs and five blocks.
- Florencio led the Tornado at the net with seven blocks.
- Noah Melendez anchored the back row with 13 digs.
FOR THE FOES
- Jackson Gilbert led the Crusaders with 23 kills, six digs and four blocks.
- Brandon Baker and Diego Rosich followed with 10 kills apiece.
- Sergio Carrillo handed out 54 assists and added seven digs and five blocks.
- Christian Phung accounted for 19 digs.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The seven blocks for Florencio sets a career-high.
- Marcano set a career-high with nine digs.
- King posted a season-high 12.5 blocks in the match.
UP NEXT
- King stays at home to take on Belmont Abbey College on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
- North Greenville travels to Erskine College on Saturday.
