Box Score by Doug Page
BRISTOL, TENN. – The Barton College women's volleyball team saw its seven-match winning streak come to an end on Friday night as the Bulldogs dropped a 3-0 (20-25, 19-25, 22-25) decision against the King University Tornado inside the Student Center.
Barton (10-12, 6-1) had trouble throughout the night attempting to beat the King block. King (10-8, 2-3) tallied seven service aces in the match to go along with one solo block and 10 block assists.
Sophomore Kaytlin Elkins paced the Bulldogs with 12 kills in the match and added nine digs. Senior Haley Headley added 11 kills for BC, while sophomore Camryn Frederick delivered six kills. Redshirt senior Riley Bane recorded a match-high 19 digs, while senior Angelica Acevedo and freshman Sarah Kirk combined for 28 assists.
Julie Ward hit .382 in the contest for the Tornado and delivered a match-high 15 kills and team-high 13 digs. Tristyn Lozano added six kills, 11 digs, and five aces for King, while Abby Anderson tallied a match-high 27 assists and 10 digs.
The Tornado gained the early momentum in the opening set, taking a 4-1 lead following a kill from Georgia Davis. Barton would eventually storm back and knot the score 5-5 after a kill from Headley. Trailing 11-10 in the set, the Bulldogs used a 3-0 run to take a 13-11 lead off a kill from Elkins. The Tornado answered with a 5-0 run that opened a three-point cushion and would lead to BC calling a timeout.
Barton rallied with a 4-0 run out of the timeout to take an 18-17 advantage before King countered with a 3-0 rally to go up 20-18. King eventually moved within a point of securing the set after using a 4-0 run to take a 24-19 edge on the scoreboard. The Tornado finished the set with a kill from Ward to give King a 25-20 victory and a 1-0 lead in the match.
A 5-0 rally in the second set would give King a 9-2 advantage and force BC to call an early timeout. For the second time in the match, the Bulldogs countered with a 5-0 run to trim the deficit to 9-7 and force King to take a timeout. The break would work for the Tornado as Lozano followed with a kill and ace to make it 11-7. Barton worked to cut the gap to 12-11 after consecutive kills from Frederick.
King took a comfortable lead in the set with a 5-0 run that forced BC to call its second timeout and would follow with two more points to increase the edge to 19-11 before a service error ended the run for the Tornado. BC closed the gap to five points before King stretched the lead to 23-15. Barton tallied three consecutive points before the Tornado got a kill from Lozano to end the set and give King a 2-0 lead with a 25-19 victory.
The Bulldogs looked to have some momentum going in the third set as Elkins gave BC a 4-1 lead before King answered with a pair of kills. Senior Allie Cullens opened the Barton lead to 12-7 with a kill, only to see the Tornado counter with a 3-0 run to make it 12-10. Barton made it a five-point cushion until a service error ended a 3-0 run for the Bulldogs. Consecutive kills from Headley made it 19-13 and would be pieced around a timeout from the Tornado.
Just when it seemed like the Bulldogs would be able to close out the Tornado and send the match to a fourth set, King used a 5-0 run to trim the deficit to 19-18. King then used some miscues from the Bulldogs to take a 21-20 lead in the set before Frederick answered for Barton to knot the score. A service error from BC would give King a 23-22 lead late in the set. Ward tallied a kill to give the Tornado a two-point cushion and followed with a kill out of a timeout called by Barton to secure the 3-0 sweep with a 25-22 victory in the set.
The Bulldogs are off for the next week and will host a pair of Conference Carolinas matches on Oct. 19-20 against Emmanuel College and Erskine College inside Wilson Gymnasium.
