Brescia upsets Spalding in Five Game Thriller at Region XII Tournament
King College also advances to Saturday's Final
No. 3 seed Brescia defeated No. 2 seed Spalding 19-30, 37-35, 30-32, 33-31, 15-11 in the second semifinal of the NAIA Region XII tournament. In the first game, Spalding pulled away in the middle of the game to take the early 1-0 lead. Alternating serves were broken by Brescia to even the score. The third and fourth game also alternated towards the end with Spalding winning the third and Brescia taking the fourth. Brescia took a 9-4 lead in the fifth and survived a tough challenge to take the match.
In the first semifinal, No. 1 seed King took out No. 4 seed Virginia Intermont in straight games 30-20, 30-24, 30-22. A 6-0 run to start off the first game for King led them to win the first game. A Virginia Intermont run gave them a 17-11 lead before the King Tornados made a run of their own to win the second game. A stalemate early on was broken in the third game with solid attacks by King.
Brescia University and King College will play for at 1 pm Saturday in Jeffersontown, Kentucky at MidAmerica Sports Center for the NAIA Region XII title. The winner gets an automatic bid to the National Championship in Columbia, Missouri.