Box Score
by Kevin Buczek
WILSON, N.C.-Freshman outside hitter Zach McCalla blasted a season-high nine kills for Barton College in a 3-0 (25-23, 25-16, 25-21) Conference Carolinas men's volleyball loss to King College on Saturday afternoon in Wilson Gym.
Sophomore Stephen Brown matched McCalla with nine kills for the Tornado and King hit .221 to snap a three-match skid. The Bulldogs hit over .100 for only the second time this season at .141 but were still denied the program's first win.
Barton (0-9 Overall, 0-6 Conf.) has played all five of its scheduled home matches before King (6-8, 1-2) has played a single game at home in Bristol, Tenn.
The Tornado rushed out to an early 10-5 lead in the first set but the Bulldogs raced back ahead 18-15 on the strength of two 6-1 runs. The 13-5 surge was finished off by an ace by McCalla.
An error kept Barton ahead 20-17 before King rallied with the next four points. A kill by sophomore Alx Draughan deadlocked the score for the seventh and final time at 21-21 before three Bulldog errors and a set-ending spike by junior Michael Koebel provided the visitors with the narrow two-point win.
King never trailed in the middle period and doubled up the Bulldogs 16-8 before taking the commanding 2-0 set lead with the nine-point victory.
The Tornado kept momentum to start the final frame and held a 12-7 lead on a kill by sophomore Jeremy Funk. The Bulldogs kept biting back and five straight points on freshman Tanner Medina's service rotation knotted the score at 12-up. King followed with a decisive 9-1 outburst to prevent the comeback and held on for the four-point win and sweep.
McCalla notched his season-high nine kills on 29 attempts and freshman Jordan Robison added his own season-best total of eight kills on 25 swings. Draughan chipped in six kills and sophomore Tyler Malpass hit .714 with five kills on seven attempts.
Freshman setter Chandler Thomas totaled a match-high 27 assists in only his game. Malpass lifted up a team-high nine digs, Robison scooped up six and Thomas had five. Malpass also had a team-high three block assists.
Senior Eric Glenn had eight kills for the Tornado; junior Ned Parker tallied a match-high 11 digs and logged 24 assists for a double-double; and freshman Matthew Harper served up three aces.
Barton will next play four matches in a tournament hosted by College of Mount St. Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio, over the weekend of Feb. 25-26.
