Concord Downed by West Liberty

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University volleyball team was defeated 3-1 by West Liberty in a Mountain East Conference match Saturday afternoon inside the Carter Center.
 
Final Score: West Liberty 3, Concord 1 (14-25, 25-17, 25-13, 25-17)
 
Set 1
The Mountain Lions (14-9 4-5 MEC) shot out to an early 4-1 lead with two kills from senior middle hitter Kyndra Pilant and an ace from freshman outside hitter Chloe Thompson. CU kept its lead, 9-6, behind kills from senior middle hitter Csayjah Whitelow and senior right side Reese Turner. Freshman setter Declyn Tooze served up three aces as Concord finished the opening frame on a 7-0 run to take a 1-0 advantage, 25-14. The Mountain Lions hit .346 in the set with five service aces.
 
Set 2
A kill from freshman outside hitter Meg Williams closed in on the early Hilltoppers' (17-6 7-2 MEC) run, tying the game 5-5. CU answered a 3-0 WLU run with a 3-0 run of its own behind an ace from freshman setter Paige Richmond. Williams added two more kills, but West Liberty evened the game 1-1 by a final score of 25-17.
 
Set 3
Concord brought West Liberty's early lead within three on an ace from Richmond, 10-7 in favor of WLU. A 7-0 run in the latter half of the set gave West Liberty a 2-1 lead in the match 25-13.
 
Set 4
A 4-0 Hilltoppers' run to begin the set was quieted when Pilant smashed a pair of kills to cut the lead to 6-4. Pilant, Thompson, Whitelow, and freshman right side Natalie Brown added kills to cut West Liberty's lead to 13-11. Freshman middle hitter Jasmine Anderson picked up a kill as WLU's lead was cut to one point, 15-14. A 7-1 Hilltoppers' run closed out the match, 25-17.
 
Match Stats
Pilant hit .429 in the game and led CU with 11 kills. Williams (eight), Brown (seven), and Thompson (six) also contributed to CU's offensive attack. Whitelow led the team in blocks with four total in the contest. Richmond finished with 22 assists and three aces, while Tooze added 13 assists and three aces, all in the first set. Davis was the only Mountain Lion with double-digit digs with 13.
 
Concord hits the road for three matches beginning Tuesday at West Virginia State, Wednesday at King, and Friday at Fairmont State.