Box Score BRISTOL, Tenn. – It didn't go quite as the King University women's volleyball team dreamed, but they still came away with a Conference Carolinas victory over last year's co-champions Belmont Abbey College in the conference-opener. The Tornado dropped the first eight points, and the first set, but came storming back to take the next three sets from the Crusaders for the 3-1 victory.
The Crusaders (1-9, 0-1 CC) scored the first six points to force King head coach Morris Cephas to take a timeout. Out of the break, Belmont Abbey scored two more points before the Tornado (6-5, 1-0 CC) finally got on the board. The Tornado gradually worked their way back, and used a 5-0 run, capped by a Lauren Willoughby ace to pull within 19-18. However, Belmont Abbey responded with three straight points en route to the 25-21 first set victory.
King picked up the intensity on both ends of the court in the second set, hitting .256 and accounting for 24 digs in the frame. Sarah Collins gave the Tornado their first lead of the match at 2-1 in the second set with one of her eight kills in the match. The teams then traded points as the score was tied eight times, and the lead changed hands seven times before Willoughby and Olivia Underwood registered back-to-back kills to give King a 13-12 advantage. The Tornado held a 16-12 lead following a Casey Williams ace before Belmont Abbey scored three straight points to pull within on and force a King timeout. Out of the break, King scored three straight points to regain a 19-15 lead. Summer Kremer then ended the set with back-to-back kills, giving King the 25-17 victory.
After the teams traded points to start the third set, King rolled off five straight points, capped by a pair of Willoughby aces to take a commanding 6-1 lead. The lead grew to 20-10 following another Willoughby ace before Grace Underwood gave King the 25-15 win with King's fifth set of the set.
The Tornado offense kept rolling in the fourth set, quickly gaining a 5-1 advantage following a Payton Tipton service ace. The Crusaders didn't give up however, as they came back to get back within 16-15, but Ashleigh Manke answered with a thunderous kill to extend the lead back to two. After another Crusader point, Manke registered another kill to put King up 18-16. Belmont Abbey would get within one point four more times, the last time coming at 24-23 before Jordan Baty ended the match with her 10 kill of the match.
Kremer paced the Tornado offense with a .308 attack percentage, posting 23 kills along with 13 digs for her fourth double-double in the last five matches. Olivia Underwood also posted a double-double, dishing out 47 assists and accounting for 13 digs. Williams led the team with 15 digs while Tipton added 14. Baty was the only other Tornado in double figures with 10 kills.
King will have a quick turnaround as they host Converse College on Wednesday night in the Student Center Complex. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
