BRISTOL, TN – The Emmanuel Women's Volleyball team traveled to Bristol, TN to take on the King University Tornado in conference action this afternoon. The Tornado took the first set, 25-23 but the Lions responded well to win the second, 25-21. The Tornado used their home court advantage to control the pace of the game the rest of the way, winning the final two sets, 25-20, 25-11. With the loss, the Lions fall to 17-9 on the season, 14-5 in conference play.

The first set was back and forth from the start, with the teams trading points early. With the Lions up 9-7 on kills by Cailin Pritchard and Isabella Reyes, the Tornado tied things up at 9 quickly. A 5-0 run by King gave the Tornado a 16-12 lead, but the Lions responded with a 3-0 run of their own to cut it to 16-15 King midway through the set. Another run for the Tornado put King up 19-16, but the Lions used key plays by Brooke Lee, Ellie Jackson and Pritchard to tie the set at 19. With the Tornado up 24-20, the Lions went on a 3-0 run to make it 24-23 King. The Tornado closed the set out strong to win it 25-23. 

The Tornado jumped out to a 6-2 lead early in the second set. The Lions quickly responded with kills by Reyes and Pritchard to make it 7-6, King. The Lions used kills by Faith Kelly and Ellie Jackson and Brianna Bigelow to take a 13-12 lead midway through the set. A 4-0 run by the Tornado gave King the lead back, 17-14 but the Lions closed out the set on a 6-0 run to take the set, 25-21. 

The third set saw the Tornado take an early 5-2 lead. Kills by Marusa Pesut, Isabel Miller, and Faith Kelly brought the Lions within a point of the lead, 10-9 but the Tornado responded with a run to go up 15-11 midway through the set. A 3-0 run by the Lions made up of an ace by Sami Gambill and a kill by Pritchard tied the set at 16-16, but the Tornado closed out the set with several big plays to earn the set three win, 25-20. 

The Tornado carried their momentum into set four, taking an early 12-1 lead. King used several mini runs to push their lead to 21-7 late and they closed out the set to win it, 25-11 and take the game, 3-1. 

Overall, the Lions had 46 kills, 4 aces, 3 blocks, 44 assists, and 77 digs. 

Ellie Jackson led the way with 12 kills, 20 digs, and an ace on the afternoon. Marusa Pesut picked up 35 assists, with Brianna Bigelow leading the team in blocks with 3. Asia Queen had 20 digs on the night, with Isabel Miller and Sami Gambill each adding an ace.

Next up, the Lions will travel to Due West, SC to face Erskine on November 11^th at 6PM. For more information on Emmanuel University athletics, visit goeulions.com.