A rebuilding Concord Volleyball program saw first-hand why the University of Charleston is one of the front-runners in this year's West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title chase.
The visiting Golden Eagles, coming to Athens on a nine-match winning streak, trailed in only one set in sweeping the Mountain Lions 25-19, 25-21, 26-24, Tuesday night at the Carter Center.
Concord suffered its eighth consecutive loss, dropping to 9-14, 2-5 in the WVIAC. Charleston improved to 17-7, 6-0.
The Golden Eagles opened up early leads in the first two sets and methodically pulled away.
In the first set, UC took a 10-5 lead then kept Concord at bay. The Mountain Lions fought to within 19-15, but Charleston answered with back-to-back kills from Tanya Ferguson to regain control.
In the second set, the Eagles moved ahead 12-6. Concord would pull within 24-21, as part of a rally keyed by a tip kill by Meredith Shifley, but Charleston scored the next point to close out the set.
It was Concord that took an early lead in set three. Charleston would recover to forge a 15-15 tie, but Concord went back in front on a kill by Tori Fornadel. Moments later, an Amber Miller kill gave Concord an 18-16 lead. The Mountain Lions would lead 22-20, leading to a Charleston timeout. The Golden Eagles came back to square the set at 23; a kill by Emily Wilson put Concord back in front 24-23.
But a CU service error evened the set at 24, and Charleston scored the next two points to secure the match victory.
“We start off sets strong, and we finish strong,” said Concord's first-year head coach Kate Southcott. “It's somewhere in the middle where we run into trouble.
“One thing I liked tonight was how we played when it was close at the ends of the sets. Obviously, it didn't turn out how we wanted, but I liked the look in our eyes. We weren't afraid. What we're still learning is that a point is as important as any other point, whether it's 0-0 or 10-10 or 24-24.”
An encouraging sign came from the play at the net. Facing a taller, more athletic Charleston team, Concord finished narrowly behind in kills (39-38) and hitting percentage (.277 to .260).
“Our blocking was stronger,” Southcott said. “Stronger blocking helps our defense, and better defense makes our whole game better. We've been working on that a lot in practice. Now we have to keep getting better.”
Miller led the Mountain Lions with 13 kills and 16 digs. Helen Thiesen handed out 24 assists. Shifley contributed 15 assists and nine digs. Senior libero Kelly Newberry anchored the back line with 16 digs.
Ferguson topped Charleston with 11 kills, while Jasmine Howard added 10. Katie Williams added 16 assists.
Concord gets the remainder of Homecoming Week off. The Mountain Lions return to play next Monday, October 19, for a non-conference meeting with Bluefield College (VA). Match time is 7:00 pm EDT at the Carter Center.
