Box Score
ATHENS, W. Va. – The Concord University volleyball team was unable to erase a two-set deficit as Fairmont State defeated the Mountain Lions, 3-1, Saturday at the Carter Center in Mountain East Conference play.
Saturday's game was played in honor of the Emma's Touch Foundation, an origination which helps the families of local children who have cancer. The Mountain Lions wore Emma's Touch t-shirts and gold hair bows prior to the match while gold wristbands were sold with the proceeds going to Emma's Touch.
Fairmont State won the opening sets 25-23 and 25-11 before Concord took the third set 25-19 to force a fourth set which FSU won 25-16.
Senior
Jasmin Sutherland and junior
Brytni Willis each had nine kills to pace the Mountain Lions (7-9, 0-2 MEC). Sutherland also came away with four blocks (three solo / one assisted) while Willis made 14 digs, just missing a double-double.
As a team, Concord totaled 10 blocks with Sutherland, junior
Sarah Jones's five blocks (zero solo / five assisted) and freshman
Felicia Huerta's four blocks (zero solo / four assisted)Â leading the charge.
The Mountain Lions served up 10 aces Saturday. Junior
Amanda Walker, junior
Nikki McMillan and senior
Allie Pennington all had multi-ace matches with the trio of Jones, Willis and junior
Lindsey Smith adding one ace each. In addition to her ace, Smith also had 13 digs. Walker and McMillian produced 13 and 11 assists, respectively.
CU hung close with the Fighting Falcons (12-2, 2-0 MEC) for the entire first set and found itself trailing by just one point at 24-23, but FSU's Kaitlyn Witsaman was able to net the set-deciding point with a kill for the 25-23 win. Concord was unable to recover from a 10-3 Fairmont State run midway through the second set that put the visitors up 16-8 on their way to the 25-11 triumph.
Concord ended any thoughts of a Falcon sweep with a dominating performance in the fourth set. The Mountain Lions jumped out to a quick 6-1 lead behind a kill from freshman
Lauren Richardson, an ace from Walker and a block from the combination of Jones and Huerta. The five-point cushion proved to be enough as Concord was able to withstand several Fairmont State runs to finish off the Falcons with back-to-back blocks by Jones and Lovejoy for the 25-19 win.
However, the Mountain Lions' hope for a comeback were dashed in the fourth set when Fairmont State sprinted out to a 14-6 lead that CU could not overcome, eventually falling 25-16. Fairmont State was led by Bri Swann, who had a match-high 19 kills.
Concord will look to snap its two-match losing streak with a victory at West Liberty on Oct. 4 at 7:00 p.m.
