Tigerville, SC - The North Greenville Trailblazers were victorious tonight at Hayes Gymnasium, defeating the Tornado of King University 3-1. NGU claimed the opening two sets 25-21 and 25-22 before King extended the match with a 25-20 victory in the third. The Trailblazers responded with their strongest offensive set of the night, taking the fourth set 25-16 to secure the victory.
North Greenville improved to 8-8 overall and 4-4 in Conference Carolinas play, while King fell to 8-7 overall and 3-5 in the conference.
King opened the match by taking an early 4-1 advantage, but North Greenville quickly worked its way back into the set. The Trailblazers eventually erased an 18-15 deficit before going on to take the set 25-21. NGU recorded 12 kills in the set while holding King to eight kills and forcing nine attack errors as the Tornado finished with a -.028 hitting percentage.
North Greenville produced its highest kill total of the night in the second set. The Trailblazers put down 15 kills while King managed just seven. NGU overcame eight attack errors and held off the Tornado for a 25-22 victory, giving the Trailblazers a 2-0 advantage in the match.
King avoided the sweep with its best offensive performance of the evening in the third. The Tornado recorded 11 kills while hitting .116 and limited North Greenville to nine kills and a .079 percentage. King took the set 25-20 to extend the match to a fourth set.
North Greenville committed only two attack errors while recording 10 kills on 33 attempts for a match-best .242 hitting percentage. King was held to a .075 percentage with seven attack errors as NGU pulled away for a 25-16 victory to close out the match.
Elise Smith led the North Greenville attack with 12 kills while hitting .233. Anna Fiddelke followed with an 11-kill performance, committing just one attack error on 23 attempts to finish with a .435 hitting percentage.
Lydia Northam added eight kills, while Reagan Funderburk finished with four kills on a .250 hitting percentage. Funderburk, Northam and Peyton Taylor each contributed two block assists.
NGU will return to action on Friday, October 2nd against the Hawks of Shorter University at Hayes Gymnasium.
