MURFREESBORO, N.C. – The King University women's volleyball team dropped the first set at Chowan University on Friday night, but the Tornado came storming back. King received career nights from
Abigale Jayne on offense and
Gabri Puertas on defense to lead the Tornado to the 3-1 Conference Carolinas victory.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 3, Chowan 1 (20-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-20)
LOCATION: Bob Burke Court; Murfreesboro, N.C.
RECORDS: King 13-12, 8-6 Conference Carolinas; Chowan 9-14, 6-6 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- The opening set was tight as King used a 4-1 run, capped by a Gracia Love block to take a 9-6 lead.
- However, Chowan came back and evened the score at 13 as the teams began to trade points.
- The score was even at 17 before back-to-back Hawk points forced a King timeout.
- Chowan scored two points out of the break, but King came back and pulled within 21-19 and 22-20 on a pair of Zephanie Snyder kills.
- However, Chowan scored the final three points to take the set 25-20.
Second Set
- King set the one early, taking a 6-2 lead following a Hailee Blankenship kill.
- Chowan fought back and evened the score twice, but Blankenship came up with a kill to ignite a 4-0 king run.
- Jayne posted two kills at the end of the spurt that gave King a 19-15 lead.
- A Blankenship ace gave King a 24-18 lead, but Chowan called a timeout and scored three straight points.
- Following a King timeout, the Tornado scored the final point to take the set 25-21 and even the match.
Third Set
- King held the advantage early, but the Hawks came back and used a 3-0 spurt to take a 15-12 lead.
- The Tornado deficit grew to 21-16, but a pair of Jayne kills got the King offense going.
- Jayne later came up with a kill that pulled King within one point before Blankenship took over.
- Blankenship posted the last three kills of the set as King scored the final four points to take the set 25-23.
Fourth Set
- King used a 5-1 run, started by a block from Chloe Clayton and Snyder to take a 15-11 advantage.
- The Tornado held off a Chowan rally as the Hawks pulled within 21-19 before a Love kill.
- Jayne followed with a kill and teamed up with Clayton for a block to give the Tornado a chance a match point.
- Jayne came through with another termination, giving King the set 25-20 and the match 3-1.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Jayne led King with 16 kills and seven digs while Blankenship followed with 13 kills and 13 digs.
- Love added nine kills and four digs.
- Kylie Love handed out 23 assists and added 12 digs.
- In the back row, Puertas posted a career-high 31 digs while Claire Wilson chipped in with 14 digs.
FOR THE FOES
- Anixa Rosa-Martinez led Chowan with 12 kills while Chloe Putnam added nine kills.
- Diana Rodriguez posted 39 digs while Ellie Middleton added 20 digs.
- Alexa Woolson led the Hawks with 16 assists.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Jayne set a career-high with 16 kills, topping her previous best of 15 set earlier this season.
- Kylie Love registered her second career double-double, posting career-highs of 23 assists and 12 digs.
- Puertas set a career-best with 31 digs, topping her previous best of 27 set last season.
UP NEXT
- King stays on the road to take on Barton College at 2:00 p.m. in Wilson, N.C.
- Chowan hosts Lees-McRae College on Saturday afternoon.
