BRISTOL, Tenn. — The King University men's volleyball team earned a straight sets victory over nonconference foe Tusculum Thursday night behind a 13 kill performance from
Suetonius Harris and 12 from
Joshua Kim.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 3, Tusculum 1 (25-18, 36-34, 25-21)
LOCATION: Student Center Complex; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 13-11, Tusculum 5-18
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- The opening set was tied at four when the Tornado used a kill from Sean Haberthy to kick-start a 4-0 run, grabbing an 8-4 lead.
- Aaron Milstead picked up a service ace to extend the lead to 14-9.
- After Tusculum got to within 16-12, the Tornado would score three consecutive points, with Milstead and Kim recording a block.
- Back-to-back kills from Kim and Jackson Carroll would make the score 22-15 before the Tornado took the set 25-18.
Second Set
- The Pioneers took an early lead, going up 10-8 before a 6-1 King scoring run gave them a 14-11 advantage.
- King would stretch the lead to 19-14 on the strength of kills by Kim and Harris, but Tusculum then got back to within 20-18, eventually tying the set at 20.
- Both teams would have multiple opportunities to win the set, but neither side was able to score the final point. Tusculum had a 30-29 lead before a pair of errors gave King set point.
- After the Pioneers tied the set at 34, King finally broke the deadlock, scoring two points, one of which was a kill from Harris to take the set 36-34 and go up 2-0 in the match.
Third Set
- Coming out of the break, Tusculum took an early 3-1 lead, eventually extending it to 11-7.
- That was when King started to rally, scoring four straight points, with Chance Hoffman contributing a kill and a block assist to get King to within 11-10.
- After a Tusculum kill, the Tornado would score four of the next five points, including back-to-back kills from Haberthy that gave King a 14-13 lead.
- The Pioneers would score a pair of points to take a 15-14 lead, but would give the lead back quickly after a service error, with King pulling ahead on an attack error.
- Harris had a kill to give King a 19-18 lead, one that they wouldn't relinquish.
- Tusculum stayed within two points of the Tornado, getting to within 23-21 before a Hoffman kill handed King match point, which they won to take the set 25-21, and the match 3-0.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- JT Deppe finished with a season-high 40 set assists, while also contributing nine digs.
- Kim and Harris both finished in double digits in kills, with Harris recording 13 and Kim posting 12 on the night.
- This was the fourth straight win over Tusculum for the Tornado, who have never lost to the Pioneers.
FOR THE FOES
- Dane Loup finished with 13 kills, while Jacob White had 12 and Colby Landry had nine.
- Shaun Kampshoff racked up 36 set assists.
- Taylor West led the back row, recording 13 digs.
UP NEXT
- King is on the road Saturday, as they face Blue Ridge Cup rival Lees-McRae in a Conference Carolinas matchup. First serve in Banner Elk, N.C. is set for 2 p.m.
- Tusculum is off until April 8, when they face Edward Waters before wrapping up the regular season at Lincoln Memorial on April 9.
