DUE WEST, S.C. – The King University men's volleyball team got off to a hot start, winning the first set at Erskine College on Friday night. However, the Flying Fleet came back to take the second and third sets before King forced a fifth set. The Tornado had a lead late, but Erskine closed with a run to take the match 3-2.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 3, Erskine 0 (15-25, 25-20, 25-20, 23-25, 15-11)
LOCATION: Belk Arena; Due West, S.C.
RECORDS: King 4-4, 1-2 Conference Carolinas; Erskine 5-3, 2-1 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- King got off to a hot start, taking a 5-2 lead following a block from Constan Tolentino and Douglas Florencio.
- Tolentino later served up an ace, giving King a 10-4 lead and forcing an Erskine timeout.
- King used a 7-2 run, capped by a block from JT Deppe and Florencio to take a 19-12 lead.
- Another block, this one from Deppe and Aaron Milstead gave King the set 25-15.
Second Set
- The second set was tight early, but Erskine grabbed the lead with a 4-1 run to take a 9-6 lead.
- King couldn't get a run going as the Flying Fleet turned their -.034 first-set hitting percent into a .478 hitting percentage in the second set.
- Erskine had an answer for the Tornado for the remainder of the set, taking the frame 25-20.
Third Set
- A 3-0 Erskine run in the middle of the third set again gained separation for the Flying Fleet at 8-5.
- Just as in the second set, the Flying Fleet had an answer for the Tornado offense, hitting .387 in the 25-20 victory.
Fourth Set
- The teams traded blows throughout the fourth set with Erskine have the advantage in the early going, but the Tornado turned the tide late in the set.
- Three straight kills, two from Diego Marcano and one from Deppe turned a Tornado deficit into a 16-14 lead and forced an Erskine timeout.
- Erskine flipped the script and had the advantage down the stretch, but King scored the final three points, started by a Jackson Carroll kill to take the set 25-23.
Fifth Set
- King jumped out to a 6-3 lead, but the Flying Fleet came back and evened the score at seven.
- The teams then went back-and-forth until an Erskine block evened the set at 11 and started a Flying Fleet run.
- Erskine scored the next four points to take the set 15-11 and the match 3-2.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Marcano led the offense with 19 kills to along with five digs.
- Joshua Kim followed with 12 kills and eight digs.
- Deppe handed out 48 assists and added four blocks and four digs.
- Noah Melendez led the back row with 15 digs.
- Milstead posted eight blocks, seven assisted.
FOR THE FOES
- Austin Edge led Erskine with 22 kills and six digs.
- Kacper Rybarczyk followed with 11 kills and nine digs.
- Jon Fuller chipped in with 10 kills seven blocks and five digs.
- Juan Alcoba handed out 48 assists.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Marcano's 19 kills sets a new career-high, topping his previous best of 16.
- Melendez topped his previous career-high of eight digs with 15.
- Milstead's eight digs set a career-best, bettering his previous high of six.
UP NEXT
- King travels to take on Emmanuel College on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. in Franklin Springs, Ga.
- Erskine travels to Limestone University on Saturday.
