Box Score DUE WEST, S.C. – For the second consecutive season, the King University women's volleyball team had a chance to play for the Conference Carolinas Tournament championship, however the Tornado had to travel to take on Erskine in Saturday night's title match. King held a lead late in the first set, but the Flying Fleet came back to take the set, and use that momentum to take the title with 3-0 win, 25-23, 25-21, 25-21.
The Tornado (22-21) found themselves in a hole early in the first set as the host Flying Fleet raced out to a 12-7 lead. At that point, head coach Morris Cephas used a well-placed timeout, and out of the break, Grace Underwood drilled home a kill to bring the serve to King. Lauren Willoughby and Sarah Collins then registered consecutive kills before Underwood evened the set at 12 with an ace. Jordan Baty gave King a 13-12 lead with kill that forced and Erskine timeout. However, the Flying Fleet (21-8) answered with three straight points to regain the lead. Erskine held that lead until Baty and Collins registered back-to-back kills before a Flying Fleet attack error gave King a 23-22 lead. The Flying Fleet then used what was a key timeout as they scored the next three points out of the break to take the first set 25-23.
The momentum carried over for the Flying Fleet as they scored the first three points of the second set and opened up a 13-7 lead before King tried to work their way back again. Both teams traded consecutive runs of three points each, before King went on a 8-4 run to cut their deficit to just 20-18. King was again within two at 23-21, but they couldn't get any closer as Erskine scored the next two points to take the set 25-21.
It didn't get any easier in the third set for the Tornado as Erskine grabbed the lead, and quickly extended it to 15-9 before King started to make a move just as they did in the first two sets. King got back-to-back kills from Grace Underwood as she tried to spark the offense. Baty and Collins then registered back-to-back kills to pull King within two before a Flying Fleet error made the score 18-17 in favor of Erskine. However, just as Erskine did in the first set, they took what proved to be a timely timeout as the Flying Fleet scored the next two points to take what seemed like a commanding 20-17 lead. The Flying Fleet then had a chance at set point with the score at 24-18, but King staved off three chances with a kill from Summer Kremer and an ace from Payton Tipton. However, King couldn't complete the comeback as Caitlin Bullock ended the 25-21 third set win with a kill, giving Erskine the sweep and tournament championship.
Willoughby led King with nine kills while Kremer and Grace Underwood accounted for eight kills apiece. Underwood hit .571 in the match, making zero errors on 14 attempts. Casey Williams led the defense with 12 digs while Kremer added 10 and Tipton chipped in with nine digs. Olivia Underwood dished out 28 assists to go along with seven digs.
Both Kremer and Tipton were named to the all-tournament team.
The loss ends the careers of seniors Kremer, Tipton, Baty and Brooke Calhoun. Baty registered four kills for the Tornado and Calhoun added six digs.
King finishes the season with an overall record of 22-11 while going 12-4 in Conference Carolinas play, winning the league's north division. The loss also marks King's second straight loss in the Conference Carolinas Tournament championship match.
