King Claims 2023 Conference Carolinas Men’s Volleyball Championship Title
Bracket | Tournament Homepage | Game Replay
BRISTOL, Tenn.– The third-seeded Tornado of King captured the 2023 Conference Carolinas Men’s Volleyball Championship with a thrilling 3-2 (25-19, 22-25, 25-22, 30-32, 15-12) victory over top-seed North Greenville in front of nearly 400 fans inside the Student Center Complex on the King University campus.
In set one, the two teams played even for the first 12 points before King broke the 6-6 tie with an 8-1 run to take a 14-7 lead and never looked back en route to a 25-19 set victory and a 1-0 lead in the match. In set two, the teams tied 11 times, the last coming at 19, but the difference in the set came late as the Crusaders turned a 19-17 deficit into a 25-22 win as they closed on a 8-2 run highlighted by a pair of Diego Rosich kills. It was more of the same in set three as King led early before NGU battled back and the teams tied eight times, the last coming at 22 when back-to-back Warren Davis kills gave the Tornado set point and an attack error put King one win away from the program’s second tournament title.
The fourth set saw eight set points before the Crusaders came away with the exhilarating, 32-30, win to force a decisive fifth set. It was a true see-saw fourth set and it was the Crusaders who had seven of the eight set points, but was finally able to get the set victory on a block from Emanuel Adames and Jorge Riesgo. In the deciding set, it was the top-seeded Crusaders who led early and were the first to eight points, 8-5. King responded, after switching sides, with six of the next seven points to take an 11-9 advantage and force an NGU timeout. The Crusaders cut the lead to one, 12-11, but the Tornado scored three of the final four points to become the first-ever three seed to win the tournament crown.
Conference Carolinas tournament most valuable player, Warren Davis, tallied a match-high 29 kills and added a team-best 12 digs for the champions. Jackson Carroll added 15 kills and hit .406 while Kellan Kennedy, another all-tournament selection, posted 13 kills and hit .500. Jack Sarnowski, the third all-tournament honoree for King, dished out 59 assists and had 10 digs.
Michael de la Cruz led the Crusaders offense with 20 kills while all-tournament honoree Emanuel Adames added 16 kills and hit .520. Jorge Riesgo also earned all-tournament honors as he dished out 61 assists.
Fans can watch replays of every game of the tournament via the Conference Carolinas Digital Network and BlueFrame at conferencecarolinasdn.com. Information regarding the championship schedule, bracket and the Student Center Complex are available
here.
2023 Conference Carolinas All-Tournament Team
MVP - Warren Davis, King
Kellan Kennedy, King
Jack Sarnowski, King
Emanuel Adames, North Greenville
Jorge Riesgo, North Greenville
Matteo Miselli, Belmont Abbey
Jason Sall, Erskine
2023 Conference Carolinas Men’s Volleyball Championship
Quarterfinals – Tuesday, April 18
#3 King def. #6 Mount Olive, 3-2 (Box Score)
#4 Belmont Abbey def. #5 Lees-McRae, 3-0 (Box Score)
Semifinals – Friday, April 21 (King University, Bristol, Tenn.)
#1 North Greenville def. #4 Belmont Abbey, 3-0 (Box Score)
#3 King def. #2 Erskine, 3-0 (Box Score)
Final – Saturday, April 22 (King University, Bristol, Tenn.)
#3 King def. #1 North Greenville, 3-2 (Box Score)