BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University men's volleyball team dropped a tough match to top-seeded University of Mount Olive in a Conference Carolinas Men's Volleyball Championship semifinal. The fifth-seeded Tornado fought back and took the first set to extra points before winning the second set in extra points. King again fought back in the fourth set, but came up short as Mount Olive took the 3-1 victory.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: No. 1 Mount Olive 3 No. 5 King 1 (29-27, 24-26, 25-16, 27-25)
LOCATION: Student Center Complex; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 12-13; Mount Olive 13-3
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- Mount Olive took the lead early and gained an 11-5 advantage that they held the majority of the set.
- King trailed 24-19 before the Tornado offense went on a run. A block from JT Deppe and Douglas Florencio evened the score at 24 before a Joshua Kim kill gave the Tornado a 25-24 lead.
- The teams then traded points before Mount Olive scored consecutive points to take the set 29-27.
Second Set
- The second set was the tightest of the match with 22 ties and 11 lead changes.
- Mount Olive scored three straight points as King called a timeout.
- Out of the break, the Tornado scored fourth straight points on two kills from Jackson Carroll and another from Kim to take a 15-14 lead.
- The Tornado held off another set point as King followed with three straight points to take the set 26-24.
Third Set
- Mount Olive used a 9-1 run to open up a 14-7 lead in the middle of the set.
- King couldn't recover as the Trojans took the set 25-16.
Fourth Set
- Mount Olive got off to a fast start again, taking a 10-5 lead before King came back to pull within 11-10 on a Kim kill.
- Diego Marcano eventually evened the tally for the Tornado as his kill knotted the score at 14.
- It looked as though the Trojans would take the set as they used a 4-0 run to take a 20-16 lead.
- However, King fought back again, using three straight points to even the set at 24 following a block from Florencio and Carroll.
- Nevertheless, Mount Olive scored back-to-back points to take the set 27-25 and the match 3-1.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Kim led the way for the Tornado with 19 kills and 13 digs.
- Carroll and Marcano followed with 11 kills each with Carroll adding eight digs and Marcano adding seven digs.
- Deppe handed out 48 assists and added 10 digs.
- Noah Melendez accounted for 11 digs.
- Aaron Milstead posted seven blocks, one solo while Florencio and Deppe added five blocks apiece.
FOR THE FOES
- Conference Carolinas Player of the Year Tobi Azeez led Mount Olive with 21 kills and eight digs.
- Eric Visgitis posted 15 kills and hit .542.
- Dominic Hagerty chipped in with 11 kills and five digs.
- Jarrod Ferguson handed out 53 assists and added 12 digs.
- Trevor Treser accounted for 23 digs.
UP NEXT
- Mount Olive advances to Sunday's championship match where they will face second seeded Belmont Abbey College at 1:00 p.m.
