BRISTOL, Tenn. – Two King University teams earned Conference Carolinas Messick Awards for Sportsmanship following the spring season. The Tornado women's tennis and men's volleyball teams were recognized by the league.
For the women's tennis team, this marks the third time the Tornado have earned the sportsmanship award with the previous two coming in 2013-14 and 2017-18. The men's volleyball team earns the award for the second straight season and fourth time in program history. The Tornado previously earned the sportsmanship award in 2015, 2019 and 2022.
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."
