Concord Holds Off King In Five-Set Thriller

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University volleyball team defeated King University 3-2 Tuesday evening inside the Carter Center in a non-conference matchup.
 
Match Score: Concord 3 – King 2 (25-20, 23-25, 25-18, 18-25, 15-6)
 
Set 1
The Mountain Lions never trailed in the opening set despite four ties. Freshman outside hitter Meg Williams collected five kills in the opening game, including the dagger that would give Concord a 1-0 edge, 25-20. Freshman outside hitter Chloe Thompson picked up four kills in the opening set, while freshman setter Paige Richmond assisted on eight CU kills.
 
Set 2
Kills from senior middle hitter Csayjah Whitelow, Williams, and Thompson propelled Concord to an early 9-8 lead. The Mountain Lions kept applying pressure, as a kill from senior middle hitter Kyndra Pilant gave CU a three-point advantage. A late 4-0 run would give the Tornado the lead and they would close out the second set by a final score of 25-23.
 
Set 3
A pair of kills from freshman right side Natalie Brown jumpstarted Concord to a 12-7 lead. The Tornado trailed by at least four points for the remainder of the set after the fast start from the Mountain Lions. A pair of service errors from the Tornado gave Concord an eight-point advantage late and an ace from freshman setter Declyn Tooze would seal a 2-1 set lead for CU, 25-18. Brown racked up four kills in the set.
 
Set 4
Back-and-forth point swings tied the fourth set at 8-8 as Concord rattled off six points in a row behind back-to-back aces from Tooze and the set-tying ace from Richmond. Despite Williams' eight kills in the set, the Mountain Lions dropped the set 25-18 and force a winner-take-all fifth set.
 
Set 5
King would strike first, but the Mountain Lions rallied on a 6-0 run behind two kills from Thompson to claim a five-point advantage. Williams collected her 25^th kill of the match to extend the CU lead to 12-4. Two kills by Brown sealed Concord's first home victory on the season., 15-6.
 
Match Stats
Williams tied the all-time program record of kills in a single game with 25. She is accompanied by Amber Miller who had 25 kills in a home contest against Alderson Broaddus on October 8, 2010. Tuesday also marked the third game this season where she recorded at least 20 kills and 10 digs. Thompson added a double-double behind 15 kills and 11 digs. Pilant recorded her first double-digit kill outing with 13 kills along with three blocks. Brown picked up 10 kills on a .304 hitting percentage. Whitelow smashed five kills on eight attempts with no errors, good for a .625 hitting percentage. Freshman defensive specialist Allie Davis led the Mountain Lions with 15 digs. Richmond totaled 36 assists in the game with a lone ace, while Tooze totaled 23 assists with four aces.
 
On Saturday, Concord travels across Mercer County to face rival Bluefield State at 2 p.m.