Tigerville, SC—The North Greenville Volleyball Team (6-7) fell to 0-3 in league play today after dropping a five set decision to the King College Tornado, who is also in their first season of Conference Carolinas Play.

The outlook for NGU looked bleak for the Crusaders after they 0-2 deficit. The Crusaders dropped the first two sets of the day by scores of 25-15 and 25-18.

The Crusaders looked to be down and out heading into what could have been the final set of the day but Greg Mosely’s squad grabbed some momentum with a 25-21win to extend the game.

The Crusaders faced a “win or go home” situation in an exciting fourth set. North Greenville trailed early, but a strong offensive push pulled the Crusaders back to even with King. The Crusaders and Tornado traded points but three straight NGU scores extended the match to a fifth set after the Crusaders clawed their way to a 25-22 win.

NGU’s fourth set win forced a fifth and deciding set. King quickly jumped out in front of North Greenville 4-1. The Crusaders pulled to within two of the Tornado but King was relentless on the offensive end of the game and eeked out a 15-8 win to take the match.

Statistically the Crusaders improved from match to match. After picking up just 9 kills on 21 attempts in set 1, NGU registered 10 kills in set two, 11 in set three, and 12 in set four. For the Match, the Crusaders tallied 48 kills and just 20 errors. Kaitlyn Pierce (18) and Rebekah Mayes (16) combined for 34 of the team total 48 kills. Abigail Frame set the table for the NGU’s offensive attack with 45 assists and Kaitlyn Harris spearheaded the defense with 17 digs.

The Crusaders will take six days to rest before returning to the court for a 7pm home match with Lees McRae.