LA volleyball drops five-setter to King

The Laurens Academy Crusaders’ varsity volleyball team put on a heck of a show Tuesday night against W.W. King, bouncing back from a set down on two occasions to eventually force their region battle to a winner-take-all fifth set in Laurens.

W.W. King, as it turned out, had just a little bit extra when it mattered – taking home a 25-22, 22-25, 25-20, 20-25, 15-13 decision that moved the Crusaders to 2-4 on the season.

After King used a 7-0 run midway through the first set to eventually take a lead it would not give up, it appeared it would take a two-set lead when it was leading 21-18, but the Crusaders roared back with the help of a host of Knight errors to run off seven of the last eight points and even the match. King bounced back in the third set with a 10-1 run that proved just enough after a 18-7 lead nearly evaporated when Laurens Academy ran off 11 of the next 13 points to close within two. That was as close as LA got on the third, however, as King scored the next three points and eventually put the set away.

LA rallied again in the fourth set when, after a six-point lead dropped to as little as one, 21-20, LA got a kill from (24) and two aces from (33) to finish off the set and even the match again.

The Crusaders were able to get out of the blocks in the fifth when they scored the first two points, but after the teams eventually tied at 4-all the Knights ran off a 6-2 run and never trailed again.

LA is back on the court Thursday night when it hosts Newberry Academy.