Bristol, TN – Southern Wesleyan fell to the King Tornado on Wednesday in a 3-0 final score.

The Warriors had 23 kills off 106 attempts in the loss.  Olivia Johnson led the team with eight kills while Ashlyn Holford followed with four.  Kali Letcher had nine of the 20 assists during the game.  Southern Wesleyan posted 10 blocks with Holford recording five.  Three Warriors had aces in the loss.  Kaylyn Woods led the team with 19 digs.  Woods was followed by Johnson with 11.


 
Match Vitals

Set One: King 25, Southern Wesleyan 19

Set Two: King 25, Southern Wesleyan 18

Set Three: King 25, Southern Wesleyan 21

Final: King 3, Southern Wesleyan 0

Records: Southern Wesleyan (0-6 / CC 0-6) King (9-2 / CC 5-1)


 
How It Happened

Set One
King took the first point of set one, but the Warriors countered to tie it up.  The Tornado maintained the pressure, scoring several points on kills by Hailee Blankenship to further their lead.  Despite trailing the Tornado, the Warriors pushed forward with kills by Emily Ellis and Ashley Sexton.  A kill by Kayley Holtzclaw allowed the Tornado to push their lead to ten, but the Warriors countered with a block by Ashlyn Holford.  Despite late kills by Holford, the Tornado won the first set 25-19.
 
Set Two
Southern Wesleyan struck first in the second set as Ashlyn Holford blocked Julie Ward's attack to put the Warriors ahead 1-0.  They pushed their lead to 3-0 on a kill by Danairi Malave and ace by Holford.  However, the Tornado countered with blocks of their own to put them on the board.  King continued to push ahead despite kills by Zharia Harris and Malave.  Southern Wesleyan challenged with kills by Olivia Johnson, but King put down kills by Holtzclaw and Blankenship.  The Tornado went on to win the second set in a 25-18 final.
 
Set Three
The Tornado jumped out early, but the Warriors countered with a kill by Olivia Johnson to tie the second set up.  King maintained the intensity as kills by Blankenship and blocks from Brittany Ramsy and Blankenship pushed the Tornado further ahead.  Johnson laid down a kill to keep the Warriors close to the Tornado.  The Tornado push further ahead, but the Warriors would not let up as Danairi Malave and Johnson put down kills to keep Southern Wesleyan close.  Despite late kills by Ashlyn Holford, King won the final set in a 25-22 final score.


 
What's Next

Southern Wesleyan will remain on the road as they travel to Murfreesboro, NC to take on the Chowan Hawks on March 27 at 2 p.m.  They will then travel to Belmont, NC to take on the Belmont Abbey Crusaders on March 30 at 7 p.m.  The Warriors will wrap up the regular season at home as they host the University of Mount Olive on April 1, and Converse College on April 6.