VOLLEYBALL: MEETING AGAIN

CU FALLS IN FIVE SETS IN TOURNAMENT OPENER

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The Concord volleyball team ended its regular season with a close, four-set loss at Fairmont State last Saturday. 

How close?  The two teams were separated by a total of four points.

So it was no surprise that the Lady Lions and Falcons would play another close match when they met again in the first round of the WVIAC Tournament, Thursday morning. 

How close?  It went the maximum five sets and took two hours to play. Unfortunately, the outcome was the same.  CU's season ended with a 24-26, 25-17, 26-28, 25-14, 15-9 defeat at the Charleston Catholic Athletic Complex in Charleston, WV.

The first set was tight from start to finish.  FSU broke away from an early 4-4 with four straight points, but CU answered with five unanswered points to take a 9-8 lead.  From there, the set was tied at 11-11, 12-12, 14-14, 15-15, 16-16 and 17-17, until back-to-back kills by Jasmin Sutherland and Sarah Jones put Concord ahead 19-17 and forced the Falcons to call a timeout.

FSU then scored four of the next five points to lead 21-20.  But CU wouldn't be closed out, tying the set at 22-22 and 23-23 before the Falcons moved to set point at 24-23. 

However, the Lady Lions tied it again at 24-24, setting the stage for consecutive kills by Brytni Willis and Sutherland to win the set.

Concord fell behind 7-2 in the second set before coming back to square it at 9-9.  But FSU scored three straight points to take the lead, and they pulled away after that.

Momentum changes marked the third set.  Concord took a 14-11 lead and forced the Falcons into a timeout, then scored two of the next three points to lead 16-12.  Fairmont State came back to reel off six straight points to move in front 18-16 and force CU head coach Kate Southcott to spend a timeout.

Concord recovered to tie the match at 20-20 and 21-21.  FSU moved in front 23-21, but CU tied it again.
The Falcons got to set point at 24-23, but a Sutherland kill brought CU level again.  FSU scored next to get to another set point, but Tori Fornadel's tip kill tied it again at 25-25.

The Falcons scored next to reach set point for a third time, but committed a service error, misfired a kill attempt and were called for a lift violation, and Concord took a two-sets-to-one lead.

Fairmont State bolted out to early leads of 5-1, 8-3 and 11-4 in winning the fourth set.

The decisive fifth set started with three straight Falcons points.  But Concord responded with a kill by Jones, an FSU hit out of bounds, an ace by Allie Pennington and a kill from Willis to lead 4-3.
However, the Falcons rallied to move ahead 6-5, and despite a timeout called by Southcott, the Lady Lions could not rally back.

Jones and Willis – two freshmen -- floored 13 kills each to lead CU.  Helen Theisen went for a double-double of 26 assists and 20 digs, while freshman Nikki McMillan added 13 assists and 12 digs. Amanda Walker, another freshman, chipped in 21 digs.

Concord finishes its 2011 season at 15-20, including a 6-10 mark against WVIAC opponents.  Thursday's match was the last for Fornadel and Theisen, CU's two senior co-captains.

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