BELMONT, N.C. – The King University women's volleyball team went on the road and earned a Conference Carolinas win on Friday night.
Hailee Blankenship posted her first career double-double to lead the Tornado to a 3-1 win at Belmont Abbey College.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 3, Belmont Abbey 1 (25-14, 23-25, 25-21, 25-14)
LOCATION: Wheeler Center; Belmont, N.C.
RECORDS: King 6-2, 3-1 Conference Carolinas; Belmont Abbey 4-2, 2-1 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- Brittney Ramsey got the Tornado off to a hot start with a pair of kills as King opened up a 5-0 lead.
- The Tornado advantage grew to 10-3 following a Kayley Holtzclaw kill, and Julie Ward stretched the advantage to 17-9 with another kill.
- Blankenship ended the 25-14 win for the Tornado with back-to-back kills.
Second Set
- Belmont Abbey jumped out to a 4-1 lead and held the advantage for nearly the entire set.
- King worked their way back and took a 16-15 lead on a kill from Holtzclaw as the teams traded points down the stretch.
- The Crusaders scored three of the final four points to take the set 25-23.
Third Set
- Belmont Abbey again took a 4-1 lead, but King came back and evened the score at seven.
- King used a 5-1 run to turn a deficit into an 18-14 lead. Blankenship and Ward started the run with kill before a Ramsey block capped the spurt.
- The Tornado held that lead and Ward gave King the 25-21 victory with a kill.
Fourth Set
- Three straight points for the Tornado gave King an 8-4 lead early, and the Tornado didn't look back.
- A block from Ramsey and Georgia Davis gave King a 16-9 lead as the Tornado went on to take the set 25-14.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Blankenship led the Tornado with 16 points and 12 digs
- Ward followed with 14 kills and nine digs.
- Holtzclaw added 10 kills and attack percentage of .643.
- Ramsey hit .389 with eight kills to go along with seven blocks.
- Davis handed out 20 assists and added five digs and three blocks.
- Katie Harless handed out 19 assists to go along with seven digs.
- Abigail Shaffer led the defense with 17 digs.
FOR THE FOES
- Katie Williams and Cameron Young led Belmont Abbey with 14 kills apiece.
- Paige Rawlins handed out 38 assists and 20 digs while Hailey Ryan registered 20 digs.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The double-double for Blankenship is the first of her career as she posted a career-high 16 kills and matched a career-high with 12 digs.
UP NEXT
- King returns home to take on Montreat College on Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m.
- Belmont Abbey travels to Lees-McRae College on Saturday.
