ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University volleyball team dropped a pair of matches at the Concord Classic Friday as it was swept by Lees-McRae before falling to King in four sets in the nightcap.
CU is 2-11 heading into competition on Saturday against WVU Tech.
Match 1: Lees-McRae 3 – Concord 0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-21)
The Mountain Lions jumped out to a 7-5 lead in the first set after a kill from senior
Alexi Pranckus, but LMC scored four straight points to assume a lead it would not relinquish for the remainder of the game. CU was able to tie the game in two other instances—13-13 and 15-15—after a kill from senior outside hitter
Ellie Lawrence and a service ace from freshman setter
Imani Rodgers.
In the second set, the Bobcats grabbed an early lead as they jumped out 9-4. However, the Mountain Lions went on a 7-2 run to tie the game at 11-11. Pranckus had two kills during the spurt while freshman right side
Camryn Huber added a kill. But, Lees-McRae slowly pulled away from CU in the game, including scoring the final four points for a seven-point win.
Like game two, LMC scored 11 of the first 15 points of the set to lead 11-4. Concord was able to trim the deficit to one point on a couple of occasions, but could not get any closer in the three-set loss.
Pranckus had a team-best 10 kills. Rodgers collected 15 assists and 10 digs.
Match 2: King 3 – Concord 1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-23, 32-30)
Even though Concord lost the nightcap to KU, it was a thrilling contest before a nearly standing-room only crowd at the Carter Center.
Neither team led by more than three points the entire first set, but it was King that controlled the lead for the majority of the game as it scored the final two points to seal a three-point win in the first.
After a struggle for either team to grab a lead against the other in the second game, the Mountain Lions turned an 11-10 deficit into an 18-15 lead. Sophomore right side
Kenzie Coulter, freshman middle hitter
Sheridan Herron and Huber each had a kill during the spurt. However, King put together a 4-0 run to retake the lead, but CU fended of KU with three straight points to win the set. A kill by Pranckus clinched the final point in the second game.
Concord led by as much as five, 13-8, in the third game, but King mounted a comeback to edge the Maroon and Gray in the set.
After falling behind 8-3 to begin the fourth game, CU evened up the set at 11-11. And from there, the set featured 13 more ties. The Mountain Lions fought off match points, and even had one of their own—28-27. Senior middle
Brooke Heck extended the match by fighting of a match point at 29-28 with her own kill, but the Tornado won the set and the match.
Heck finished with 11 kills and six blocks. Huber had six kills and six blocks. Rodgers tallied 19 assists.
As a team, the Mountain Lions had a season-high 13 blocks.
CU will finish up play at the Concord Classic with the final match on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.
