Box Score GAFFNEY, S.C. – In their first road match of the season, the King University men's volleyball team took the court against Conference Carolinas opponent Limestone College. In a match where King saw themselves in the same predicament as they were against Belmont Abbey after two sets, showed the same result in the next two sets, with the final set going against them as King fell to Limestone in five sets.
King (2-2, 1-1 CC) came out fast scoring the first four points, the first coming from Stephen Brown off an assist from Nick Drooker. Limestone got the board making the score 4-1 before Brown tallied another kill giving King a 5-1 lead. The Tornado would lead 8-5 before Limestone went on a six to zero run, gaining a 11-8 lead on King. Nick Serowski would tie the score up at 14 for King off a kill, assisted by Drooker. The Saints would go on another little run, tallying four straight points, giving them a 20-17 advantage. King would not be able to gain the lead back as Limestone won set one, 25-19.
The Tornado got on the board first again, in the exact same way, a kill from Stephen Brown. However, Limestone (5-5, 4-1 CC) would register four straight points, giving themselves a three point lead. King would not be able to gain a lead or even tie the match for that matter and saw themselves down seven points at 20-13 before Limestone eventually went on to win set two, 25-15 after tallying three straight points to end the set.
King looked to get one on the board as they started fast for the third straight set. The Tornado would quickly jump out to a 5-1 lead off multiple attack errors from Limestone. Brown would give King a 9-3 lead off of a service ace and Drooker added a kill putting the score at 12-6. King would hold onto a six point lead till Limestone registered four points in a row, bringing the score to 20-18. The Tornado would answer with the next five points off multiple errors from the Limestone defense and attack, ultimately awarding King set three, 25-18.
Looking to not end the match, King looked to force set five. Points went back and forth till King earned a two point advantage at 5-3 off a Limestone error. The Tornado would score five points in a row, capped off by multiple service aces from Drooker forcing a Saints timeout. Eddie Moushikhian would register two kills, followed by a Serowski kill, giving King three straight points and a 20-14 lead. The Tornado would go on to win set four, 25-17 and force a fifth set for the second consecutive match.
The fifth and final set did not go as planned for the Tornado. Limestone scored six straight points to start the set and King saw themselves in very deep hole. King would get some points and cut the lead down to three at 10-7 but it would not be enough as the Saints went on to win set five, 15-9 and defeat the Tornado 3-2 in a Conference Carolinas affair.
As a team, King recorded an attack percentage of .122 whereas the Saints posted a .224. King posted 40 assists to Limestone's 44. The Tornado was led by Moushikhian and Brown who posted 12 kills apiece. Wellman added 11 digs to lead the team. Brown nearly marked a double-double after tallying nine digs.
The Tornado will be back in action next on Friday, January 30 when they travel to Emmanuel College. The match is slated to begin at 7:00 pm in Franklin Springs, Ga.
