INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The Concord University volleyball team was unable to close out West Virginia State as the Yellow Jackets won in five sets Friday night in Mountain East Conference action at the Walker Convocation Center.
The Mountain Lions (7-24, 3-12 MEC) won the first and third sets 25-19 and 25-10. WVSU (24-10, 9-6) took the second, fourth and fifth sets 25-23, 25-17 and 15-12.
Tied at 10-10 in the first set, Concord was able to separate itself from the Yellow Jackets in the set by scoring three straight points. Senior middle hitter
Brooke Heck and senior outside hitter
Alexi Pranckus each had a kill during the quick spurt. CU was able to expand its lead to 17-12 after kills from freshman middle hitter
Sheridan Herron and senior outside hitter
Ellie Lawrence as Concord went onto to win by six points.
CU could not hang onto a 19-16 edge in the second set. Up by three after a kill from Heck, Concord watched West Virginia State go on a 5-0 run to take control of the game. The Mountain Lions scored the next point, but was unable to tie or take the lead in the game.
The Mountain Lions jumped 12-1 on WVSU to begin the third game as it breezed to a 2-1 lead in the match. Lawrence had three of her team-high 14 kills to lead the start of the third game. West Virginia State closed to within 10 points, 18-8, briefly before a Heck kill put a cap on the third set.
The Yellow Jackets controlled most of the fourth set. CU did cut its deficit to 14-13 after a kill from Pranckus, but WVSU scored four straight points on its way to an eight-point set win.
Concord fell behind 10-4 in the decisive fifth game, but ran off four straight points to close to within 10-8. Freshman right side Camyrn Huber and Pranckus each had a kill. The two points were as close as CU would get in the set though.
Along with Lawrence, Pranckus (12 kills) and Heck (11 kills) each finished with double-digit kills.
Junior setter
Jenna Mounts had 29 assists while freshman setter
Imani Rodgers added 20 assists. Junior libero
Erin Shannon went for a season-high 34 digs.
Concord finishes the regular season at Charleston 2:00 p.m. Saturday.
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