ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University volleyball team defeated Davis & Elkins four sets in a Mountain East Conference contest held at the Carter Center Thursday evening.
 
CU improves to 8-11 overall and 3-2 in the MEC while Davis & Elkins falls to 4-9 and 0-5 against MEC competition.
 
Set 1
A pair of Senators' attack errors and a service ace from sophomore setter Paige Richmond got the match underway as the Mountain Lions led 3-0. Then, sophomore outside hitter Chloe Thompson added a kill and an ace to extend the advantage. Sophomore outside hitter Meg Williams scored three-straight CU points to keep the Mountain Lions ahead 10-5. Holding a 13-9 lead, Concord rattled off six-straight points to grab control of the frame. Senior middle hitter Kyndra Pilant and sophomore right side Natalie Brown contributed kills during the run. It was Thompson that had the final say, hitting for the last kill to give Concord a 1-0 lead, 25-15.
 
Set 2
Brown and sophomore middle hitter Jasmine Anderson combined for a block that put CU ahead 3-2 early in the second set. Then, trailing by one, CU sparked another scoring spurt to grab a 9-5 edge. Williams, Thompson, senior middle hitter Reese Turner hammered kills during the run. Later in the set, Brown smashed back-to-back kills to extend the advantage, 17-10. CU closed out the frame by outscoring the Senators 8-2 over the final 10 points. Freshman setter Rylee Wise added two aces while freshman outside hitter Caelyn Wise recorded the final point on a kill.
 
Set 3
Pilant swung for a kill and followed with a service ace that gave Concord a 6-4 edge early in the third game. The Senators would knot the frame 9-9, but a kill from Thompson and an ace from sophomore defensive specialist Allie Davis gave CU its lead back. The Senators answered with a 9-2 run to lead 18-13. Williams and Thompson would try to catapult CU back in front, but the Senators would take set three 25-22.
 
Set 4
D&E opened the fourth game of the match with three errors paired with an ace from Thompson as Concord jumped to a 4-0 lead. Williams connected on back-to-back kills to bring the edge back to four, 8-4. Then, Thompson hit for three-straight kills to open up the lead to 12-6. Pilant and Williams hit for two kills each down the stretch as the Mountain Lions cruised to a 25-15 to close out the match. Brown and Pilant collaborated for one final time as they blocked a Senators' attack for the final point.
 
Match Stats
Williams led all players with 18 kills in the match, as well as 15 digs, three blocks, and two service aces. Thompson notched 13 kills and was one dig shy of a double-double with nine. Richmond led CU with three service aces followed by R. Wise and Thompson with two each. Concord served up 11 aces in the contest, the most in a single game this season.  
 
The Mountain Lions head to the Waco Center to face Glenville State in an MEC meeting Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.