University of Mount Olive played a close first set, but North Division No. 1 seed King University pulled away in the final two sets to defeat the North Division fifth-seeded Trojans 26-24, 25-14, 25-18 in the quarterfinal round of the 2014 Conference Carolinas Women's Volleyball Tournament Tuesday at Bristol, Tenn. With the loss, the Trojans finish the season with a record of 7-25.
The opening set saw 15 ties and neither team led by more than three points. Mount Olive built an 8-5 lead and rallied from a 15-13 deficit. Dezirae Mackey had a pair of blocks and Sarah Watkins' kill broke a 23-23 tie to give the Trojans a set point. King tied the set 24-24 on Summer Kremer's kill and a pair of Trojan errors gave the Tornado the first set.
After scoring the final three points of the first set, King (21-10) capitalized on five Mount Olive errors to jump out to a 5-0 lead in the second set. The margin reached double figures at 18-8 as the Tornado built their lead to as many as 13 points. Sarah Robertson's kill saved one set point for the Trojans, but Jordan Baty answered with a kill for King to give the Tornado a two-set advantage.
In the third set, kills by Watkins and Danielle Plante triggered a four-point Trojan run and gave Mount Olive a 7-4 lead. King answered with a 5-0 run, but Plante followed a Montgomery Register kill with an ace to put the Trojans back on top 10-9. King used a pair of kills by Grace Underwood to score four unanswered points and take the lead for good.
The Trojans rallied from a four-point deficit to pull within 17-15, but King went on another five-point run and Mount Olive never recovered.
Watkins and Britni Johnson led Mount Olive with five kills apiece as six different Trojans recorded at least three kills. Samantha Winfield recorded 20 assists, while Johnson and Casey Fiechter each tallied 11 digs.
Kremer led all players with 13 kills for King.
Playing in their final collegiate match, Mackey recorded a match-high four blocks, while Robertson added three kills.