INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The Concord University volleyball team bowed out in the quarterfinal round of the Mountain East Conference Tournament Thursday night in four sets to West Liberty at the Walker Convocation Center.
Final Score: West Liberty 3 – Concord 1 (25-12, 23-25, 25-16, 23-25)
Set 1
West Liberty (23-8) broke off an 9-1 run in the middle portion of the set to take a 19-11 lead after a kill from senior middle hitter
Kyndra Pilant had tied the set for the fifth time, 10-10. WLU did not allow Concord (16-15) to climb back into the set winning by 13 points.
Set 2
CU was able to shake off the slow start in the second game. With the Hilltoppers leading 16-14, Concord took control of the set with a 6-2 run. Freshman setter
Declyn Tooze contributed a service aces while freshman outside hitter
Meg Williams came up with one of her five kills in the set to push the Mountain Lions in front 20-18. West Liberty got within one five times, but a Williams smash secured the set.
Set 3
Ten of the first 15 points of the crucial third game went to West Liberty. CU used two WLU attack errors to get back within three points, 10-7, but the Hilltoppers went on a 5-1 run to open up a 15-8 edge. The closest the Mountain Lions would get the rest of the way was six points.
Set 4
With the season on the brink, the youth Mountain Lions stood tall. Three straight points, including a kill from freshman outside hitter
Chloe Thompson pushed Concord out to a five-point edge, 11-6. It was the largest lead of the night for CU in any set. WLU steadily crawled back into the set and took an 18-17 edge. Consecutive kills from Thompson and a service ace from freshman libero
Allie Davis swung the game back to CU, 20-18. Now trailing 23-20 after a 5-0 spurt from West Liberty, two WLU attack errors and another Thompson kill tied the set. However, WLU closed out the set and the match with back-to-back kills.
Match Stats
Williams logged 13 kills with 12 coming after the first set. She added 11 digs for her 11
th double-double of the season. Thompson just missed a double-double with nine kills and 10 digs. Both of the CU setters, freshman
Paige Richmond and Tooze, nearly went for double-doubles. Both racked up 17 assists. Richmond had nine digs and Tooze added eight. Davis had a team-best 17 digs. All nine of Pilant's kills came in the first two games.
Despite the loss, Concord secured its first winning season in seven years, and Thursday's MEC Quarterfinal match was the first MEC Tournament appearance since 2017 for the program.
CU loses just two seniors off the 2023 squad, right side
Reese Turner and middle hitter
Csayjah Whitelow.
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