Concord Clipped at West Liberty

WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The Concord University volleyball team dropped a Mountain East Conference contest to West Liberty 3-1 at the ASRC Saturday afternoon.
 
CU falls to 12-13 overall and 5-4 in conference action while West Liberty improves to 12-11 and 7-2 against MEC opponents.
 
Set 1
Three Hilltoppers' attack errors were the first three points of the contest for CU as it trailed 6-3. Then, a pair of kills from sophomore outside hitter Chloe Thompson and an ace from sophomore setter Declyn Tooze brought the Mountain Lions within one, 7-6. Kills from Pilant and Williams knotted the scoring 11-11. Sophomore middle hitter Jasmine Anderson and sophomore right side Natalie Brown combined on a block to give Concord its first lead, 14-13. Kills from freshman right side Maddie Stull and Williams kept the advantage at two, 20-18. However, WLU scored five of the final seven points to grab the first set 25-23.
 
Set 2
West Liberty jumped out to an 11-3 lead early in set two, but a 4-0 CU run brought the score to 11-7. Anderson picked up a kill and a solo block during the run. Later in the set, back-to-back Mountain Lions' blocks saw CU trail by two, 16-14. Williams, Stull, and Anderson scored on three consecutive rallies to give CU the edge 19-18. Another late run propelled the Hilltoppers to a 2-0 match advantage, 25-20.
 
Set 3
Set three saw the Mountain Lions take control early, capitalizing on three WLU errors to grab a 6-2 lead. Anderson swung for two more kills to extend the edge to 9-4. A West Liberty scoring spurt tied the set, 14-14, but five straight points from CU shut down the Hilltoppers' attack. Thompson added two kills to give CU a five-point lead. Williams hammered the final four kills of the frame, making the match 2-1, 25-19.
 
Set 4
Following a West Liberty run to start the fourth game, a pair of WLU errors and a kill from Thompson made the score 13-5. Williams added three more kills to close in on the West Liberty advantage, 16-10. A block fronted by Thompson and Anderson got CU within four, 18-14. Then, a 4-0 spurt saw the Mountain Lions trail by one, 20-19. Williams and Pilant added kills in the closing moments of the match, but it was the Hilltoppers that closed of the match.
 
Match Stats
Williams picked up her 12th double-double of the season, smashing 18 kills and tallying 22 digs. Thompson also finished in double figures as she logged 13 kills. Sophomore setter Paige Richmond finished with 23 assists and Tooze added 22. Pilant swatted seven blocks while Brown had five. Sophomore defensive specialist Allie Davis was two-digs shy of her career mark, posting 27 in the match.
 
The Mountain Lions return to the Carter Center to host West Virginia State October 29 at 7:00 p.m.