BRISTOL, TENN. – For the second time in as many days, the Queens University of Charlotte men's volleyball team swept a Conference Carolinas opponent as the Royals defeated King University (Tenn.) 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-23) on Wednesday night on the road. The win is the first for Queens over the Tornado in the program's young four-year history.
 
Queens improved to 9-9 overall on the season after hitting .286 in the match. Outside Josh Bragg led the way with 11 kills and a .348 hitting performance to go along with 12 digs, while middle JP Payne had six kills and hit .667 followed by an 8-kill, .500 hitting night from fellow middle Stirling Sims.
 
The Royals opened the match with a .394 hitting mark in the first set, rallying from an early deficit to build a four-point lead at 11-7 following a 7-1 run. King evened the score on multiple occasions and took a late lead at 21-20 on a kill by Joshua Kim, but the Royals ended the frame with four unanswered points to take the set.
 
King once again built an early lead in the second set of action, but the Royals weathered the storm and took advantage of nine Tornado attack errors to win the frame and build a 2-0 match lead.
 
In the third and final set, Queens rallied from a 23-22 deficit to score three straight points as Sims and Bragg recorded kills to go along with a double block by Sims and Jack Brinkman to put the match away.
 
Setter Daniel Leitao recorded 30 assists in the win, while Ruben Greenstein chipped in nine digs on defense.
 
The Royals are back in the Queen City this weekend for an Independent Volleyball Association match with Lincoln Memorial University on Saturday at 4 p.m. inside Curry Arena.