FRANKLIN SPRINGS, Ga. – In the final week of the regular season, the King University women's volleyball team knew they need a pair of wins and some help to host a Conference Carolinas Women's Volleyball championship match next week. The Tornado started the weekend with a 3-2 win at Emmanuel College on Friday night behind a career night from Ashton Beckner.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 3, Emmanuel 2 (24-26, 25-19, 22-25, 25-21, 15-11)
LOCATION: Franklin Springs, Ga.
RECORDS: King 12-13, 11-4 Conference Carolinas; Emmanuel 9-15, 6-9 Conference Carolinas

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The match went back-an-forth all night, starting with the first set going to Emmanuel 26-24.
• King responded behind Beckner to even the match, taking the second set 25-19.
• The third set went back to Emmanuel 25-22 before King came back once again.
• The Tornado forced a fifth set as they won the fourth 25-21.
• In the fifth set, the Tornado jumped out to a lead and took the set 15-11 and the match 3-2.
• Beckner led King with 17 kills and hit .457 in the match, making one error on 35 attempts. She added five blocks, two solo to help the Tornado defense.
• Jenna Sturgeon followed with 12 kills from the middle and hit .462 with zero errors on 26 attempts.
• Haley Roe dished out 42 assists to go along with eight digs.
• On the defensive side, Amy Serowski led the way with 21 digs. Becca Huddleston followed with 15 and Sydney Pigage chipped in with 11.

FOR THE FOES

• Erica Burnham led the way for the Lions with 20 kills and 19 digs.
• Julie de Blanck followed with 16 kills and Jessica Gray added 13.
• Brittany Scarbrough handed 53 assists.
• Bethan Winston led the defense with 23 digs and Kodi Patterson chipped in with 14.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The 17 kills for Beckner sets a career-high, besting her previous mark of 15, a mark she reached twice earlier this season.
• Beckner has also hit over .400 with at least 10 kills in each of the last four matches.
• Sturgeon matched a career-high with 12 kills and set a career-best with an attack percentage of .462.

UP NEXT

• King travels to take on Conference Carolinas defending champion and south division leader Erskine College on Saturday. First serve is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
• Emmanuel takes on Lees-McRae on Saturday afternoon.