CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The King University men's volleyball team got off to a hot start at the University of Charleston on Saturday evening but had to fight through a couple of off sets as the match went to a fifth set. The Tornado trailed down the stretch, but went on a run, scoring the final three points to take the set 19-17 and the match 3-2.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 3, Charleston 2 (25-20, 17-25, 25-23, 22-25, 19-17)
LOCATION: Wehrle Innovation Center; Charleston, W.Va.
RECORDS: King 9-9; Charleston 5-9
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- King hit a blistering .440 in the opening set, led by four kills apiece from Joshua Kim and JT Deppe.
- An early 3-0 spurt gave King a 6-2 lead following kills from Kim and Deppe around an ace from Aiden Swatzell.
- The King lead grew to 18-10 before the Golden Eagles rolled off four straight points, cutting their deficit in half.
- The Tornado had to fight off another run from Charleston as four straight points cut the King lead to 23-20.
- However, King scored the final two points to take the set 25-20.
Second Set
- The role was reversed in the second set as the Golden Eagles hit .448 in the frame.
- Charleston broke a 2-2 tie with a 6-0 run and didn't look back, taking the set 25-17.
Third Set
- The King offense came back in the third set, hitting .400 behind 10 kills from Kim.
- Kim didn't make an error on 13 attempts in the set to lead the Tornado.
- A Jackson Carroll kill started a 3-0 King run before a block from Sean Haberthy and Jack Sarnowski gave King an 8-7 lead.
- Another 3-0 spurt gave King a 13-10 lead before a Carroll kill forced a Charleston timeout with King leading 14-11.
- The teams traded 3-0 runs and it looked like King would hold the Golden Eagles at bay to take the set.
- However, Charleston came back and evened the tally at 23 before kills from Carroll and Kim gave King the 25-23 victory.
Fourth Set
- This time it was Charleston with the hot offense as they hit .405 in the fourth set.
- King held the advantage early, but a 3-0 spurt evened the set at six as the teams began to trade points.
- Charleston used a pair of 3-0 runs to open up a 19-16 lead en route to the 25-22 victory.
Fifth Set
- Five straight Tornado points turned a deficit into a 6-2 lead following three straight kills from Deppe, Carroll and Kim.
- However, Charleston chipped away and used a 4-1 run to even the score at 10 before back-to-back points gave the Golden Eagles a 13-12 lead.
- The teams then traded points until King closed the match with three straight points.
- A pair of errors gave King an 18-17 lead before a ball handling error gave King the 19-17 victory to take the match 3-2.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Kim led King with 24 kills, hitting .333 in the match. He added 16 kills for the double-double.
- Carroll followed with 16 kills and eight digs while Deppe added 15 kills and seven digs.
- Sarnowski handed out 58 assists to go along with six digs.
- Noah Melendez led the back row with 19 digs.
FOR THE FOES
- Jake Vorburger led Charleston with 19 kills and nine digs.
- Arthur Sueur followed with 14 kills and six digs.
- Will Kimenhour and Hudson Harris chipped in with 10 kills each.
- Diego Villafane handed out 59 assists and Ian Vazquez posted 10 digs.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Sarnowski set a career-high with 58 assists, topping his previous best of 55 set earlier this season.
- Kim posts his first double-double with season-highs of 24 kills and 16 digs.
- Melendez set a season-best with 19 digs.
- Carroll's 16 kills set a career-high, topping his previous best of 13 kills set last season.
UP NEXT
- King returns to Conference Carolinas play on Wednesday when they travel to North Greenville University. First serve from Tigerville, S.C. is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
- Charleston next travels to New Jersey Institute of Technology on Friday.
