ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University volleyball team was unable to hang onto a 2-0 lead as it fell in five sets to West Virginia Wesleyan (25-18, 25-13, 22-25, 21-25, 13-15) Friday night in a Mountain East Conference matchup at the Carter Center.
Set 1
Trailing throughout most of the first set, Concord (6-11, 0-2 MEC) finished the opening set on a 13-3 run. It broke off two smaller 5-0 runs to conclude the set. Down 15-13 to WVWC (5-10, 1-1 MEC), CU went up 18-15 on the strength of kills from freshman setter
Kenzee Chaffinand junior middle hitter
Kyndra Pilant. Holding onto a 20-18 margin, the final five points of the set belonged to Concord as another Chaffin ace closed out the set.
Set 2
The Mountain Lions scored the first three points of the game, and never looked back as it went up 19-9 after a 4-0 run was concluded with an ace from sophomore outside hitter
Hannah Steele and a Wesleyan error. The margin remained at least eight for the remainder of the game.
Set 3
The Bobcats recorded a 6-2 run to start the set and slowly pulled away from Concord, gaining a 13-6 edge. CU to back to within two points nearly the end of the set as a kill from sophomore outside hitter
Gracie Brackney pulled the scored to 22-20, but WVWC hung on by three points.
Set 4
A run by each team had the momentum shifting back-and-forth in the set. Concord finished off a 5-0 run—on kills from Brackney and Pilant—to go up 19-17. However, WVWC had an answered with five straight points to take a 22-19 lead, and force a fifth set.
Set 5
The Mountain Lions had the early leads in the decisive game with advantages of 5-2 and 9-7. WVWC tied the set at 10-10 before an ace and a kill from Chaffin pushed Concord in front by two. But, it was the Bobcats who had the final run in the match as they scored five of the last six points.
Match Stats
Brackney paced CU with a career-high 18 kills. Steele added 16 kills as both players notched nine digs. Chaffin tallied 41 assists—her third 40-assist match of the season—and 16 digs. Chaffin just missed a triple-double with eight kills. Senior middle hitter Amber matched Chaffin with eight of her own kills.
Sophomore defensive specialist
Kaylee Spees had 14 digs.
Concord begins a two-match road trip 7:00 p.m. Tuesday against Charleston.
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