BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University men's volleyball team earned the Conference Carolinas Messick Award for Sportsmanship the league announced on Wednesday. This marks the third award for the Tornado men's volleyball team in program history.
King previously earned Messick Awards in 2019 and 2015.
In 2022, the Tornado posted a 17-12 overall record, going 11-3 in Conference Carolinas play. The Tornado finished second in the Conference Carolinas standings and had two five-match winning streaks. Those streaks amounted to the Tornado winning 13 of their final 16 matches. The season concluded in the Conference Carolinas Men's Volleyball Championship in a semifinal at third seed University of Mount Olive.
The Conference Carolinas Directors of Athletics implemented the process by which the Conference Carolinas Messick Sportsmanship Awards are determined. A student-athlete and coach from each institution vote separately upon the sportsmanship of all conference competitors. Each institution then submits those votes to the conference office where the averages are then calculated to decide the winner for each conference-sponsored sport.
The Team Messick Sportsmanship Awards are named after John D. Messick, who was the President of former conference member East Carolina from 1947-59. Messick truly championed sportsmanship and even wrote a book entitled, "Personality and Character Development."
