All-conference recognition went to five players this year on King’s Fork High School’s boys’ volleyball team, which saw its season come to an end last week in the Conference 17 tournament semifinals.

The Bulldogs fell 23-25, 25-22, 28-30, 18-25 to Churchland High School at Deep Creek High School.

King’s Fork coach Angelique Gatling noted the Truckers came ready to win, played with heart and seemed to want it more.

“They wouldn’t let nothing drop on their side, and they out-hustled us,” she said.

Gatling had praise for a hard-playing trio of Bulldogs, though, which included seniors Drequan Wilson, Shawn Nichols and Noah Callis.

Wilson recorded 19 kills, 15 assists and a block, and Gatling later highlighted sophomore Rontre Pope for contributing 11 kills and senior Deshaun Wilson for chipping in nine kills and four assists.

King’s Fork finished the 2015 season with an overall record of 10-7, and it achieved a 6-3 conference record during the regular season.

In 2014, the Bulldogs went 18-7 overall, advancing as far as the Group 4A South Region Eastern Section semifinals. But that was a team with a roster quite different from King’s Fork’s 2015 squad.

This year, “we did fairly well, actually, coming out with a whole new team, basically, and Drequan Wilson and Noah Callis being the only two four-year players,” Gatling said.

She noted she believes the Bulldogs could have advanced further — at least as far as the regional final — because they had talent, but their overall lack of experience cost them.

“It just came down to experience,” she said.

Not lacking for experience was King’s Fork’s lone representative on the All-Conference 17 first team, Drequan Wilson.

“He deserved it,” Gatling said. “He worked really hard, and he carried the team a lot. He was a great influence for us.”

Once Gatling and her staff figured out who was returning this season, they knew they would call on Wilson to be a leader to the younger and less experienced players.

“He was going to be the example that they looked forward to,” Gatling said.

And Wilson, originally an outside hitter, proved to be a versatile leader.

“He actually became a setter,” Gatling said. “He led the team with (209) assists.”

He also accumulated 261 kills, 31 blocks and 14 aces to earn his inaugural all-conference first team selection for volleyball.

Bulldogs making the second team included Deshaun Wilson and Rontre Pope, while junior Blake Sargent and Noah Callis received honorable mention.