Concord Defeats W.Va. Wesleyan, Earns Trip to MEC Tournament

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University volleyball earned a Mountain East Conference playoff berth by downing West Virginia Wesleyan in straight sets (25-20, 25-13, 25-19) Saturday afternoon in Mountain East Conference action.

Concord finishes the regular season at 18-13 overall and 7-9 in the MEC while the Bobcats fall to 10-12 overall and 9-7 in league action.

The Mountain Lions used an 8-2 run with the scored tied at 7-7 in the first set to pull ahead 17-9 before closing out the opening game 25-20. During the extended run for CU, freshman middle hitter Shea Hoffman and senior middle hitter Sarah Jones each recorded a kill while WVWC committed a series of errors to give CU the edge.

Concord used two long runs in the second set by opening up a 12-4 margin in the beginning of the set before rattling off an 11-6 run. The Mountain Lions had six different players record a kill during the second game in Jones, Hoffman, senior setter Nikki McMillan, freshman outside hitter Lisette Roldan, senior outside hitter Brytni Willis and senior setter Whytni Willis. Jones and Roldan each had two kills.

After a back-and-forth affair to begin the third set, Concord took a 12-11 lead and turned it into a 20-15 lead, eventually winning the set 25-19 and the match 3-0.

Jones led the Mountain Lions with 12 kills, seven digs and five blocks. Hoffman tied her career high in blocks by recording seven. B. Willis had eight kills to along with eight digs.
McMillan and W.Willis split the setting duties with McMillan tallying 15 assists and W.Willis adding 12. Redshirt freshman defensive specialist Nicci Hutzell tallied a career-high three service aces in the sweep of the Bobcats.

The Mountain Lions committed 11 errors to West Virginia Wesleyan's 27 and outhit the Bobcats .279 to -.010 in the match.

Concord finishes the home season with a record of 9-4, the best home mark for CU since the 2011 campaign when they finished 10-3 at the Carter Center.

The Mountain Lions will begin the MEC Tournament Thursday in Wheeling, West Virginia when they play top-seeded Wheeling Jesuit at 7:30 p.m.