ETTRICK, Va. – The King University women's volleyball team opened the season in impressive fashion, with a pair of sweeps at the Virginia State Tournament. The Tornado opened with a 3-0 win over Concord University behind a stellar debut from Julie Ward. The second match sweep of Elizabeth City State University was highlighted by a career-high from Rebekah Hill.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 3, Concord 0 (25-13, 25-17, 25-22); King 3, Elizabeth City State 0 (25-10, 25-19, 25-11)
LOCATION: Multipurpose Center; Ettrick, Va.
RECORDS: King 2-0; Concord 0-1; Elizabeth City State 0-2

HOW IT HAPPENED – CONCORD

First Set

• The opening set was close in the early going with a Georgia Davis kill giving King a 6-4 advantage.
• Tristyn Lozano later started a 4-0 run with one of her four kills in the set.
• Following the spurt, the Tornado led 12-8 before going on a 7-0 run.
• Lozano capped the spurt that stretched the Tornado advantage to 18-9 as King went on to take the set 25-13.

Second Set

• Ward, Davis and Anderson evened the score and gave King a 12-9 lead with four straight kills, forcing a Mountain Lion timeout.
• Following the break, King scored five straight points, capped by a block from Anderson and Davis that gave King a 17-9 lead.
• Hill later capped the 25-17 victory with her second kill of the set.

Third Set

• Leading 8-7, Ward posted three straight kills before Davis came up with a kill. A Concord miscue gave King a 13-7 lead, ending a 5-0 Tornado spurt.
• The Mountain Lions battled back late in the set, scoring six straight points to pull within 22-21 before King head coach Dave Ulrich called timeout.
• Ward came up with a kill out of the break, and following a Concord point, Davis and Anderson gave King a chance at match point with a block.
• Hill gave King the 25-22 win with her seventh kill of the match.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Ward led the Tornado with 16 kills and eight digs in her debut. She also hit .343 in the contest.
• Lozano followed with nine kills to lead the offense.
• Defensively, Hill posted 16 digs while Sydney Pigage accounted for 12 digs.
• Abby Anderson handed out 36 assists to go along with five blocks, including one solo stuff.

FOR THE FOES

• Camryn Huber led the Mountain Lions with six kills.
• Erin Shannon posted 16 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED – ELIZABETH CITY STATE

First Set

• Ward wasted no time getting King on the board coming out of the gate with back-to-back terminations.
• Anderson followed with an ace to give King the early 3-0 lead.
• The Tornado later went on a 5-0 run, extending their lead to 10-3 behind a kill and two aces from Davis.
• Kayley Holtzclaw then scored three of the next five points for King, giving the Tornado a 14-5 advantage.
• Ward capped the 25-10 win with her fourth kill of the opening set.

Second Set

• Anderson started the second set with a pair of aces, giving King the early lead.
• A 3-0 spurt capped by a Caitlyn Crawford ace, broke a tie and gave King a 13-10 advantage.
• The Tornado pulled away with a 7-1 spurt, ended by a pair of Hill kills around a block from Remi Thele and Megan Morelock as the Tornado took the set 25-19.

Third Set

• Emma Carico started the third set with a kill and Brittney Ramsey started an 8-0 spurt with a kill.
• Thele gave the Tornado a 9-1 lead with back-to-back kills to end the run.
• The Tornado offense continued to click as Davis extended the lead to 22-10 before three straight kills from Thele, Hill and Davis gave King the 25-11 win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Hill led the way with a career-high 11 kills.
• Thele and Davis followed with five kills each.
• Six Tornado had at least four kills in the match.
• Anderson handed out 21 assists and Keri Ricker added 10 helpers.
• Pigage paced the defense with 11 digs.

FOR THE FOES

• Kaylee Williams led Elizabeth City State with six kills while Zhiasia Bazemore accounted for eight digs.

UP NEXT

• King takes on host Virginia State at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday before facing North Greenville University at 12:00 p.m.