Photo Courtesy of Matt Jones
BRISTOL, Tenn. – The Lees-McRae College men's volleyball team fell in three sets (25-15, 25-14, 25-19) on the road at King University Wednesday night in Conference Carolinas action.
Set 1 – The difference in the opening set of the match could be found on the block and because of two runs by the Tornado. King totaled five blocks in the opening stanza, which were instrumental in a 4-0 run and 5-0 spurt by the Tornado. With those two factors working together, King ended up winning the frame, 25-15.
Set 2 – King kept things rolling in the second hitting a match-high .412 to go along with four more blocks. The Bobcats did get a stellar outing from Drew Sims in the second set hitting .500 with four kills on eight attacks. Even with the stellar effort from Sims and the rest of the Bobcats, the Tornado came out on top in the second to take a 2-0 lead in the match, 25-14.
Set 3 – Lees-McRae started to click offensively in the third frame with a match-high 13 kills in the set. Ethan Gardner paced these efforts with four kills in the stanza, and four other Bobcats had two kills each. The Bobcats did have their best streak of the match in the third reeling off a 6-1 run in the later stages of the frame. Unfortunately, these factors weren't enough as the Tornado finished off the set and match, 25-19.
Stat Standouts – Offensively, the Bobcats were led by the duo of Sims and Gardner. Sims finished with the most kills of any player on the night with nine, while Gardner hit .267 with seven kills. Chris Woolslayer, meanwhile, finished with the team lead in digs (eight) and aces (two).
Next up – Lees-McRae will return to action on March 9 when it hosts Lincoln Memorial University at Williams Gymnasium. First serve between the Bobcats and Railsplitters is set for 2 p.m.
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