BRISTOL, Tenn. – In a rematch of the regular season finale, the King University men's volleyball team fell to third seed University of Mount Olive on Friday night in a Conference Carolinas Men's Volleyball Championship semifinal. The second seeded Tornado tried to dig out of a 2-0 hole on the road, but couldn't complete the comeback as Mount Olive won the match 3-1.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: No. 3 Mount Olive 3, No. 2 King 1 (25-19, 25-21, 18-25, 25-)
LOCATION: Kornegay Arena; Mount Olive, N.C.
RECORDS: King 17-12; Mount Olive 16-6
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- Kellan Kennedy and Joshua Kim came up with kills to give King a 12-8 lead and force a Mount Olive timeout.
- Out of the break, the Trojans went on a run, use three straight points to even the score at 14 and scoring eight of 11 points to gain a 16-15 lead.
- The score was again even at 18 before three straight points from Mount Olive gave the Trojans a 21-18 lead.
- The Trojans scored four of the final five points to win the set 25-19.
Second Set
- Mount Olive held the advantage in the early going before King fought back to even the score at 14 on a Jack Sarnowski block.
- Mount Olive scored three straight points to regain a 19-17 lead.
- A JT Deppe kill pulled King back within 21-20, but that was as close as the Tornado could get.
- The Trojans scored four of the final five points, winning the set 25-21.
Third Set
- King jumped out to a 4-0 lead behind kills from Sarnowski and Deppe.
- The Tornado advantage grew to 17-11 on a kill from Kim as Mount Olive called a timeout.
- Suetonius Harris later came up with a kill that forced another Mount Olive timeout with King leading 21-14.
- Kills from Harris and Sarnowski gave King the 25-18 victory and forced a fourth set.
Fourth Set
- Mount Olive grabbed an early lead, but King came back and evened the set on a Harris kill at 10-10.
- However, the Trojans scored three straight points that started a 9-3 run.
- King called a timeout trailing 18-13, but the Trojans extended the lead out of the break.
- Mount Olive then closed out the 25-16 win with three straight points to take the match 3-1.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Harris led the Tornado with 16 kills and six digs.
- Kim followed with 13 kills and six digs.
- Deppe added nine kills and six digs.
- Sarnowski handed out 37 assists and Noah Melendez added six digs.
FOR THE FOES
- Tobi Azeez led Mount Olive with 16 kills with a .533 attack percentage.
- Eric Visgitis and Tyran Gillespie followed with 11 kills each.
- Trevor Treser posted nine digs and Jarrod Ferguson handed out 48 assists.
