BRISTOL, Tenn. – The King University women's volleyball team picked up a thrilling five-set win Friday night over Converse University, thanks to
Hailee Blankenship and
Abigale Jayne, both of whom finished in double digit for kills on the night.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: King 3, Converse 2 (19-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-19, 23-21)
LOCATION: Student Center Complex; Bristol, Tenn.
RECORDS: King 9-15, 5-9 Conference Carolinas; Converse 8-18, 7-7 Conference Carolinas
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set
- Converse took an early 9-4 lead before a Riley Nelson kill ended what was a 4-0 Valkyries scoring run.
- After the lead reached 15-9, the Tornado started a 4-0 scoring run of their own, with Blankenship recording consecutive kills during the stretch.
- The Tornado continued to work their way back, eventually tying the score at 17.
- Converse would close the set on an 8-3 run, winning 25-19.
Second Set
- King raced out to an early 4-1 lead, with Jayne recording two kills.
- The Tornado would hold that lead until Converse tied the score at 13, but a quick service ace put the Tornado back in the lead, 14-13.
- That started a 5-0 King scoring run, with Paula La Mendola picking up an ace, along with kills by Blankenship, Katie Harless and Nelson that put King in front 18-13.
- Zephanie Snyder picked up a kill to give the Tornado match point at 24-19, but Converse scored four straight, pulling to within 24-23.
- King would pull the set out however, as Jayne came up with another kill, this one handing the Tornado a 25-23 set win, evening the match at one.
Third Set
- The Tornado scored three of the first four points to take a 3-1 lead, but Converse was able to tie the score at three before taking a 4-3 advantage.
- A 5-0 scoring run saw the Converse lead reach 10-4 before Blankenship came up with a kill to stop the run.
- That started a 4-0 Tornado run that saw them pull to within 10-8, forcing Converse to take a timeout.
- After the Converse lead reached 16-10, the Tornado came storming back, scoring the next five points to pull to within 16-15.
- Converse would finish the set on a 9-4 scoring run, winning the set 25-19 and taking a 2-1 lead in the match.
Fourth Set
- It was back-and-forth early, with neither team getting a lead larger than one until the Tornado took an 8-6 lead off a Blankenship ace.
- That came in the midst of a 4-1 Tornado scoring run, putting them in front 10-7.
- After Converse pulled back to within 11-10, King went on another scoring run, this one a 6-1 run that saw the lead expand to 16-11 Tornado.
- The Valkyries continued to fight though, pulling back to within 20-18, forcing the Tornado to take a timeout.
- Coming out of the break, the Tornado scored five of the final six points, with Jayne picking up two kills as the Tornado won the set 25-19, and evened the match at two.
Fifth Set
- The Valkyries raced out to an early 5-2 lead, eventually stretching the lead to 8-4 before a Tornado timeout.
- King would score three of the next four points coming out of the timeout, with Blankenship, Jayne and Harless all recording kills to bring the Tornado to within 9-7.
- The Tornado fell behind 14-12, but were able to fight off two match points, tying the score at 14.
- That set up what would turn out to be a thrilling finish, as there were seven ties and five lead changes, with the Tornado coming up with the final three points, two of which came from Blankenship before Zephanie Snyder ended things with a kill.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Blankenship led all players, finishing with 24 kills, while Jayne had 19.
- Katie Harless handed out 50 assists.
- Gabri Puertas had 26 digs to lead the back row, with Faith Morse adding 16.
FOR THE FOES
- Evelyn Fitz led the Converse attack with 16 kills, with 13 coming from Alayah Robinson.
- Madison Gregory had 50 set assists on the night.
- Mackenzie Day led the Valkyries back row with 35 digs.
UP NEXT
- The Tornado will host Emmanuel College Saturday afternoon. First serve is set for 2 p.m., with a pregame ceremony honoring the Tornado seniors.
- The Valkyries will play at Lees-McRae College Saturday afternoon.
