BRISTOL, Tenn. – The Erskine College women's volleyball team (4-9, 3-7 CC) went 1-1 in pool play to begin action in the 2021 Conference Carolinas Tournament. The 7th seeded Fleet beat 10th seeded Southern Wesleyan University in three sets, 25-16, 25-21, 25-20 but fell to 2nd seeded King University in four sets, 15-25, 25-21, 19-25, 24-26. And with King's win over Southern Wesleyan, the Tornado finished first in the pool and advanced to the semifinals.
 
THE ESSENTIALS:
Conf. Carolinas Standings | Stats | Scores
Div. II Scores | Record Book | Conf. Carolinas Digital Network
 
MATCH 1 vs Southern Wesleyan
Set 1: Both teams had scoring runs in the opening stages of a closely fought first set. After a couple of Warriors' errors put the Fleet up 17-15, Erskine closed the set 8-1 scoring run en route to a 25-16 victory in Set 1. Katy Torgerson's kill finished off the Fleet's opening set win and her five kills along with four from Lainie Loving led the way.
 
Set 2: Although Set 2 was much closer on the scoreboard, Erskine won the first point of the set and never trailed. After the Warriors tied the set at five apiece, a SWU service error and a Loving ace put Erskine up for good. Later in the set, Kaile Tuisamatatele fueled a 5-1 scoring run with a kill and an ace to give the Fleet some breathing room with 14-10 lead. Southern Wesleyan rallied late as a four-point scoring run narrowed the Erskine lead to 22-21, but the Fleet won the final three points, including a Rebecca Massengill ace to win Set 2, 25-21.
 
Set 3: A Kaile Tuisamatatele kill closed out a 3-0 run to begin Set 3, but the Warriors answered right back and took a 5-4 lead. Moments later a Maddie Wilson kill leveled the score and Massengill picked up a kill of her own to put the Fleet back in front; this time for good. SWU did the tie at 10, but Massengill tallied back-to-back kills as part of a 4-0 scoring run to give the lead back to the Fleet. And it was Massengill again who's kill sealed a 25-20 victory for Erskine and a three-set sweep in their opening match of the 2021 Conference Carolinas Tournament.
 
THE PLAYER
Katy Torgerson had a team-high 12 kills with no errors on 16 attempts, good for a .750 hitting percentage. Torgerson also picked up two blocks and a dig for the Fleet.

THE TEAM
Erskine hit .215 (37 K / 14 E / 107 TA) for the match and doubled up the Warriors in aces, eight to four.\

MATCH 2 vs King
Set 1: Lainie Loving got the Fleet on the board with a kill and a few moments later, had an ace to put Erskine in front 5-4. But, the hosts almost immediately took the lead right back and an 8-2 scoring run put King up 19-12. Then, the Tornado finished off a 25-15 Set 1 victory by winning six of the final seven points. Katy Torgerson had a team-high four kills for Erskine. 
 
Set 2: The Fleet were plagued by a slow start in the second set, trailing 8-3 out of the gates. But, the 7th seed responded with an 11-3 run, capped by an Eve Donald kill to put Erskine up 14-11. King got level on a few separate occasions, but a 4-0 run from Erskine behind kills from four different Fleet players helped Erskine take the lead for good. King held off a few Fleet set points, but a Kaile Tuisamatatele kill finished a 25-21 Erskine win in Set 2.
 
Set 3: King again began the third set with a hot start, taking an early 7-2 lead. Erskine struggled to make up ground, but eventually got within four points at 21-17 thanks to three kills from Rebecca Massengill, but the early deficit proved to be too much to overcome as King won a crucial Set 3 by a score of 25-19.

Set 4: After slow starts in each of the first two sets, Erskine jumped out to an early 4-1 lead in the fourth set, in large part due to errors from the Tornado. Later, kills from Tuisamatatele and Torgerson put the Fleet up 11-8, before King rattled of six of next seven points and took their first lead of the set along the way. The Fleet battled back and two kills from Maddie Wilson helped put Erskine back in front and held a 20-18. King won the next two points and after the teams exchanged the following eight points, that set the stage tied at 24 in the fourth set. But, the second-seeded Tornado won the next two points to seal a 26-24 win and a four-set victory over the Fleet and ended Erskine's 2021 conference tournament run.
 
THE PLAYER
Rebecca Massengill had a team-high 14 kills, an ace, two blocks, and three digs. Reilly Bartlett also added a game-high 40 assists in the senior's final game of her Erskine career.

THE TEAM
Erskine hit .176 (48 K / 22 E / 148 TA) for the match and edged King in blocks, five to four, but the Tornado picked up seven aces to Erskine's two.

WHAT'S NEXT? 
The Fleet failed to advance past pool play in the 2021 Conference Carolinas Tournament as their season came to an end on Saturday night. Erskine will now prepare for the fall season.

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