ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University volleyball team won two, five-set matches Saturday evening at the Carter Center in non-conference action.
The Mountain Lions defeated Virginia State and Bluefield State to improve to 15-12 on the season.
Match 1: Concord 3 – Virginia State 2 (25-18, 20-25, 25-14, 22-25, 15-11)
Concord led 12-9 midway through the first set before the Mountain Lions ran off a 10-3 run to a take a commanding 22-12 lead. Sophomore middle hitter
Brooke Heck and redshirt freshman outside hitter
Ellie Lawrence combined for five kills in the stretch. CU went onto win the first set 25-18.
The Mountain Lions could not comeback from an early 15-8 deficit in game two as VSU claimed a 25-20 set win.
Concord bounced back in a big way in the third set as the Maroon and Gray upended Virginia State 25-14. CU took advantage of some Trojans' errors as VSU hit -.156 in the third set. However, the Trojans forced the Mountain Lions into a decisive fifth set.
Tied at 6-6 in the final game, CU ran off five straight points to take an 11-6 lead. After three errors from the Trojans, junior middle hitter
Shea Hoffman capped the run with back-to-back kills.
Heck finished the match with 17 kills while Lawrence tallied a double-double of 11 kills and 12 digs. Junior setter
Casey Mandeville handed out 28 assists.
Match 2: Concord 3 – Bluefield State 2 (25-14, 24-26, 25-21, 22-25, 15-10)
The Mountain Lions cruised to an opening set win by 11 points against Bluefield State. Sophomore outside hitter
Alexi Pranckus recorded five kills in the set and hit .571 to assist the CU attack.
The second set was a tight affair as neither team led by more than four points. CU was unable to hang onto a 22-20 edge as the Blues finished the set on a 6-2 run to even the match.
Eight different players recorded kills for the Mountain Lions in the third set as they slowly pulled away from Bluefield State to take a 2-1 lead in the match. But, BSC fought back to force another fifth set for Concord.
Tied at 9-9 in the fifth, Concord won four of the next five points to open up a cushion. Back-to-back attack errors from the Blues followed by kills from Heck and Pranckus gave CU the margin it needed for the five-set triumph.
Heck, Lawrence and Prackus all finished with 14 kills. Lawrence (16 digs) and Pranckus (12 digs) added double-doubles for Concord. Mandeville finished with a personal-best 33 assists. Mandeville and sophomore libero
Erin Shannon each had three aces for the Maroon and Gray.
Freshman outside hitter
Emily Ellis added nine kills and seven blocks.
CU travels to UVa.-Wise 7:00 p.m. Tuesday night. Â
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