BRISTOL, Tenn. --- Junior Brady Markle continued his hot streak with a season-high 28 kills, but the Lees-McRae men's volleyball team fell to Conference Carolinas rival King (Tenn.), 13-25, 22-25, 28-30, Tuesday night at the Student Center in Bristol, Tenn.
The Tornado (6-2, 5-1 CC) ran a fluid offense that swung at a .300 clip on the night while Nick Serowski delivered five service aces. The Bobcats (1-7, 0-6) had a trio of players with seven digs or more.
Markle (York, Pa.) is averaging 5.46 kills per set this season and has amassed 65 kills in his last three matches.
The first set was back-and-forth in the early going and LMC took a 9-7 lead following a Tornado attack error and Markle kill.
Serowski placed a three consecutive service aces to spark an 11-1 run to pace King to a first set win.
The Tornado hit a match-high .350 in the set.
King held a two-point advantage most of the second set and was unable to extend it more thanks to strong offensive play from LMC's John Sobel (Holbrook, N.Y.).
Consecutive attack errors from the Bobcats allowed the Tornado push the advantage to 20-15.
Markle blasted home a pair of kills to cut the deficit to three, but King responded with an Eddie Moushikhian kill to swipe the set.
Moushikhian led the Tornado with 14 kills.
LMC took advantage of a shaky Matthew Lychock, who had consecutive attack errors, leading to a 19-all tie.
The Bobcats made an impressive rally by ripping off a 4-0 run while trailing 24-21.
Sobel delivered a pair of kills while sophomore Rudy Klaas (Dakar, Senegal) chipped in with an ace.
Both squads would exchange points, but kills from Serowski and Moushikhian sealed King's win.
Junior Drew Blecher (York, Pa.) paved the way with 35 assists while Sobel led the team with 10 digs.
LMC will enjoy a 10-day break before visiting George Mason Friday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. in Fairfax, Va.
- LMC -
