Box Score BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University men's volleyball team jumped out of conference play to take on Alderson Broaddus University on Friday night. The Battlers took the first two sets, only to see the Tornado come storming back by winning the third and fourth sets. However, King couldn't complete the comeback as Alderson Broaddus escaped with the 3-2 win.
In the first set, King (7-6) opened up a 12-5 lead as Mason Casner forced a Battler timeout with a kill. The Tornado held their lead there, and owned a 16-11 lead before Alderson Broaddus (4-3) started to come back. The Battlers scored three straight points to even the frame at 17 before King scored back-to-back points. The Tornado held the upper hand down the stretch, including a 24-22 lead before the Battlers scored back-to-back points to even the set, and added a third to take the lead. After a King timeout, Alderson Broaddus added another kill, taking the first set 26-24.
The Battlers didn't slow down in the second set, opening up a 9-4 lead to force a Tornado timeout. King later trailed 18-13 before Eddie Mouhikhian and Casner ignited a 5-0 run with consecutive kills. The duo then capped the spurt with two more kills to even the set at 18-all. The Battlers then regained the lead, and held the upper hand the remainder of the set. The frame was again even at 22-22, but Alderson Broaddus scored three straight points, taking the set 25-22.
King got the offense rolling in the third set, hitting a blistering .462 in the frame with 17 kills. The Tornado opened up an 11-5 lead following a pair of kills from Adrian Besson and Nick Serowski, forcing a Battler timeout. The King lead stayed their following consecutive kills from Matthew Lychock and Stephen Brown at 15-9. Serowski gave King a chance at set point with a kill as King took the set 25-16.
The Tornado offense stayed hot, to the tune of a .556 attack percentage in the fourth set. King scored four straight points to open up a 9-4 lead. Holding an 11-9 advantage, King rolled off eight straight points to open up an 18-9 lead. Serowski and Brown recorded kills to start the spurt while Drooker and Besson registered a block to force a Battler timeout. King went on to take the set 25-11, forcing a decisive fifth set.
Alderson Broaddus picked up their offense in the final frame, quickly opening up a 7-3 lead as King took a timeout. The Tornado deficit grew to 10-3 before Moushikhian registered a kill to get King back on the board. The Tornado went on a 6-2 run, cutting their deficit to 13-10, but the Battlers scored the final two points, taking the set 15-10 and the match 3-2.
Moushikhian led the offense with a season-high 21 kills. Both Drooker and Serowski added double-doubles for King. Drooker handed out 50 assists to go along with a season-high 15 digs while Serowski posted season-highs of 15 kills and 11 digs.
King will be in action again when they travel to take on Coker College at 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
