MATCH STATS
- King def. Barton 3-1 (25-17, 25-20, 21-25, 25-15)
- King moves to 18-5, 14-1 Conference Carolinas; Barton falls to 18-7, 14-1 Conference Carolinas
- Bristol, Tennessee
- Box Score
King put together a .347 hitting effort and notched eight blocks to register a four-set win over Barton and move into a first-place tie in the Conference Carolinas standings with one match to play. The Tornado victory snapped a 13-match win streak for the Bulldogs and evened the season series between the teams, following a Barton sweep on Feb. 24.
King hit .367 or better in three of the four sets, while holding Barton under .100 in sets 2 and 4. For the match, the Tornado boasted a 50-40 lead in kills, a .347 to .147 lead in hitting efficiency, a 6-5 edge in aces and 8-6 advantage in blocks.
Senior right side Kiel Bell notched a team-high 17 kill and eight digs, while hitting a .483 clip for King. Senior outside Jeff Sprayberry followed with 15 kills, six digs and two blocks. Senior right side Sean Luhmann (7), junior middle Jon Wheaton (6) and senior middle Adrian Besson (5) followed offensively. Besson hit at a team-high .571 clip and put up a team-leading four blocks. Senior setter Nick Drooker served up two aces, while also accounting for 47 assists, seven digs and two stuffs.
Junior outside Aleksa Brkovic and sophomore right side Angelos Mandilaris managed 14 kills apiece to pace Barton. Junior outside Vasilis Mandilaris added eight putaways, but hit just .037 in the match. Brkovic hit at a team-leading .273 clip and turned in three of the team’s five aces. Angelos Mandilaris added seven digs, while redshirt sophomore setter Oscar Fiorentino and junior middle Justice Lord posted two blocks apiece.
King jumped out to an 8-4 lead in Set 1 as Sprayberry and Angelos Mandilaris downed two kills apiece. Barton was within two at 9-7, but soon trailed by seven at 17-10 as the Tornado served up two aces and put up three blocks. The Bulldogs would get no closer than four the rest of the way (17-13). King notched five of the final seven points in the stanza, capped by a Besson putaway.
The teams split the first 26 points of Set 2 with neither gaining more than a three-point edge. King scored six of the next eight to go up 19-15 with help from a kill and a block by Sprayberry. Barton was within three five times, last at 23-20, but a pair of hitting errors sealed the Tornado victory.
Barton came back from intermission and ran out to a 12-6 advantage including two kills each by Brkovic and Angelos Mandilaris. King countered with a 10-4 run to knot the score at 16-all. Sprayberry and Bell turned in two kills apiece and the Tornado also had help from five Bulldogs miscues. Barton called timeout and surged ahead 21-18 out of the break, including a Vasilis Mandilaris ace. King was back within one at 21-20, but Barton closed out the set with a 4-1 run, including two Vasilis Mandilaris putaways.
The Tornado turned the tables, kicking off Set 4 with an 8-2 lead, including two kills and a block by Bell. Up just four at 8-4, King broke the set open with eight of the next 10 points, including two kills each by Sprayberry and Bell. A pair of blocks by Besson and Nick Drooker pushed the Tornado lead to 11 at 19-8. Barton would get no closer than nine the rest of the night as the team traded points. Sprayberry downed the final kill at 25-15.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy: King Athletics
The King University men’s volleyball team pulled into a first place tie in the Conference Carolinas standings after defeating Barton College on Friday night. In front of a sellout crowd, the Tornado defeated the league-leading Bulldogs 3-1 behind a .347 attack percentage.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Tornado opened the match with a balance attack, hitting a combined .407 in the opening set.
- King gradually extended their lead in the opening stanza with 3-0 spurts. Jon Wheaton started one with a block, followed by a Kiel Bell ace and Wheaton gave King a 17-10 lead with a block that forced a Barton timeout.
- Adrian Besson gave King the 25-17 victory with his second kill of the set.
- The second set was tight before the Tornado used a 4-0 run to turn a two-point deficit into a 15-13 lead.
- In all, King scored eight of 10 points, opening up a 19-15 lead following a Besson kill.
- The Tornado defense also stepped up in the second set, holding Barton to a .091 attack percentage.
- King took the set 25-20 behind a pair of Barton miscues.
The Tornado trailed the majority of the third set, but came back to even the score at 16. - However, the Bulldogs answered with three straight points and took the set 25-21 following a 4-1 run.
- Bell got the Tornado offense going in the fourth set and Nick Drooker served up an ace before Besson gave King a 5-1 lead with a kill. That kill also forced a Bulldog timeout.
- The Tornado never let off the gas, hitting a blistering .550 in the set, accounting for 13 kills on 20 attempts with two errors.
- Bell and Jeff Sprayberry each posted five kills in the set, leading the Tornado to the 25-15 win, taking the match 3-1.
Bell paced the offense with 17 kills, hitting .483 in the match. He added a team-high eight digs. - Sprayberry followed with 15 kills and six digs.
- Drooker handed out 47 assists and added seven digs.
- Ryan DeLong led the defense with eight digs and Besson posted four blocks.
FOR THE FOES
Aleksa Brkovic and Angelos Mandilaris led the Bulldogs with 14 kills each. Mandilaries also added seven digs.
Oscar Fiorentiono handed out 36 assists to go along with six digs.
Tim Wiese led the defense with eight digs.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
The .347 attack percentage marked the 11th time this season King has hit better than .300 in a match.
The win ends Barton’s 13-game winning streak and pulls King into a first place tie with the Bulldogs with one match remaining in the conference season.
UP NEXT
King hosts the University of Mount Olive on Saturday at 12:00 p.m.
Barton travels to Lees-McRae College on Saturday.
Courtesy: Barton Athletics
A 3-1 (25-17, 25-20, 21-25, 25-15) victory for the King University Tornado halted a 13-match winning streak for the Barton College Bulldogs on Friday night in Conference Carolinas men’s volleyball action.
Barton (18-7, 14-1) now finds itself tied for the top spot in the league standings along with the Tornado with one regular season match left to play. The Bulldogs hit just .147 in the match despite getting 14 kills each from junior Aleksa Brkovic and sophomore Vasilis Mandilaris. King (18-5, 14-1) hit over .350 in three of its four sets in the match including a .550 clip in the fourth set.
Brkovic tallied 14 kills for BC while adding three aces and four digs in the match. A. Mandilaris notched 14 kills for Barton while adding seven digs. Junior Vasilis Mandilaris tallied eight kills, five digs, and one solo block for the Bulldogs, while sophomore Tim Wiese added a match-high eight digs. Redshirt sophomore Oscar Fiorentino tallied a team-high 36 assists to go along with six digs and two block assists.
Kiel Bell paced the Tornado with a match-high 17 kills while hitting .483 for King. Bell also added eight digs, one solo block, and one ace for the Tornado. Jeff Sprayberry notched 15 kills in the match to go along with six digs and a pair of block assists. Nick Drooker guided the Tornado offense with a match-high 47 assists along with two aces and seven digs.
The Tornado opened an 8-4 lead in the opening set before the Bulldogs would respond with a 3-1 run to trim the deficit to 9-7. King tallied back-to-back points to take an 11-7 lead and force BC to use an early timeout. King increased its lead to 17-10 in the set on the heels of a 3-0 rally as Barton would use its final timeout of the set. The Bulldogs would gain some momentum by using a 3-0 rally to cut the gap to 17-13.
King stretched the lead to 20-13 in the set following an ace from Sean Luhmann and kill by Bell. Trailing 24-16 in the set, A. Mandilaris delivered a kill for BC as the Bulldogs looked to start a run to close the gap in the set. Adrian Besson sealed the opening-set victory for the Tornado with a kill to give King a 1-0 lead in the match.
Both sides handed the lead over early in the second set as A. Mandilaris tallied a kill that would knot the score 7-7. That kill would spark a 3-0 run for the Bulldogs as BC upped its lead in the set to 10-7. The Tornado wouldn’t go away without a fight and would later even the score and take a 15-13 lead on the heels of a 4-0 run. After seeing its lead cut to 23-20, the Tornado tallied consecutive points off attack errors by Barton to secure the 25-20 victory in the set and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
Looking to show some fight, the Bulldogs opened the third set with a 4-1 run. A quick 3-0 rally would up the lead to 7-2 for Barton before a service error ended the run. Barton increased its advantage to 12-6 in the set before King used a 2-0 spurt to cut the gap to 12-8. The Tornado rallied midway through the set to cut the gap to 15-14 and later knot the score 16-16. Following a timeout by BC, the Bulldogs pieced together a 3-0 run to gain a 19-16 edge. Holding onto a 21-20 lead, the Bulldogs used 3-0 run to pull within a point of extending the match. A kill from Bell would extend the set another point until V. Mandilaris recorded a kill to give BC a 25-21 victory and force a fourth set.
The Tornado showed poise early in the fourth set, using a 5-0 run to take a 5-1 lead over BC. A 3-0 run would up the King advantage to 8-2 following a block from Bell and Besson. Barton trimmed the gap to 8-4 after consecutive kills from V. Mandilaris and Brkovic. The big run for the Tornado would come as Bell recorded a kill to start a stretch of King winning eight of the next 10 points to increase its lead to 16-6.
Consecutive attack errors by BC would up the King advantage to 19-8 before the Bulldogs rallied to trim the deficit to 20-11. Both sides would trade each of the next eight points en route to Sprayberry delivering the winning kill as King recorded a 25-15 victory in the set and a 3-1 triumph in the match.
Barton closes the regular-season with a matchup against Lees-McRae College on Saturday at 12 p.m. The Bulldogs will look to complete the sweep of the Bobcats after defeating LMC 3-0 inside Wilson Gym on Feb. 23.
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