WILSON, N.C. – The King University women's volleyball team defeated Barton College on Saturday afternoon after a competitive five sets.
Gracia Love led the team with a match-high 21 kills and 20 digs.
THE BASICS
FINAL: King 3 – Barton 2 (25-19, 24-26, 22-25, 26-24, 15-11)
LOCATION: Wilson Gymnasium; Wilson, N.C.
RECORDS: King (6-13, 4-8 Conference Carolinas) | Barton (5-14, 2-10 Conference Carolinas)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- King opened the first set with a 3-1 lead with kills from Love and Isabel Shutters. King would maintain a lead the majority of the entire set.
- Barton only had a lead when they scored five unanswered putting them up 8-7. Love ended their run with a kill and started a 5-0 run for the Tornado in response.
- King finished the set with a kill from Ella Kiser, a block from Kiser and Riley Nelson, and a kill from Madison Blair to win the first set 25-19.
- Blair had four kills while Kiser and G. Love had three each. Faith Morse and Kylie Love each had a service ace.
- The Bulldogs opened the second set with a 4-0 lead. They led 22-13 before King had an impressive 11-1 run to take a 24-23.
- That run included four kills and two aces from the Tornado offensively. Kiser and Nelson had two blocks to add to the scoring run.
- Barton scored three points in a row to take the second set by a score of 26-24.
- G. Love had four kills and an ace to lead the offense.
- The third set was a back and forth battle as neither team had no more than a three-point lead the entire length of the frame.
- Barton won the set 25-22 to take a 2-1 match lead.
- G. Love added 5 more kills while Isabella Shutters had a solo block.
- Within the fourth set, the score was tied 16 times and featured 6 lead changes. King had a few three-plus point runs to force a fifth set with a 26-24 set win.
- As the Bulldogs had a 24-23 lead with one-point away from the match win, King took a timeout. Out of the timeout, G. Love had a kill, Isabel Krick had a block, and Love finished the set with another kill – her fifth of the set.
- Both Krick and Love had five kills and a solo block. Three Tornado players had a service ace.
- King set the tone of the fifth set beginning with a 5-0 lead highlighted by a solo block by Krick and four back-to-back kills from Krick and Love. Amaya Hall had assists on all four kills.
- The Tornado led the entire set as Krick finished the match win with a kill with the assist from Hall.
- G. Love surpassed 20 kills for the match with her four kills in the final frame.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Gracia Love led the Tornado with 21 kills, 20 digs, and 24 receptions. She also had two service aces, 2 solo blocks, and a block assist.
- Isabel Krick had 11 kills, 2 solo blocks and a block assist. Her kill at the end of the fifth set helped King get back in the win column.
- Ella Kiser and Riley Nelson each had 10 kills. Nelson also added a service ace, 5 block assists, and a solo block. Kiser had three block assists.
- Kylie Love had 32 assists and two service aces. Amaya Hall had 30 assists and an ace.
- Faith Morse had 36 digs and 33 receptions as the defensive specialist.
UP NEXT
The Tornado will return to the Student Center Complex to take on Lees-McRae on Wednesday, October 22. The match is scheduled to start at 6pm.
