Concord Holds Off West Liberty, Advances to MEC Semifinals

INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The Concord University volleyball team outlasted West Liberty in five set in the quarterfinal round of the Mountain East Conference Tournament at the Walker Convocation Center Thursday evening.
 
With the victory, CU advances to the MEC Semifinals for the first time in program history and picks up its first postseason win since the 2013 season. The final set scores were 25-23, 23-25, 25-16, 22-25, and 15-9.
 
Set 1
Down 6-3 early in the opening frame, a kill from sophomore outside hitter Meg Williams kickstarted a six-point Concord swing to grab a 9-6 lead. Williams picked up her fourth kill of the set to stop an impending WLU run to knot the score at 10-10. Then, with the game still tied, a pair of blocks from senior middle hitter Kyndra Pilant and sophomore right side Natalie Brown highlighted a 4-0 CU spurt to lead 16-12. Sophomore outside hitter Chloe Thompson got the last word, swinging for a kill that gave the Maroon and Gray a 1-0 lead, 25-23. 
 
Set 2
Williams was active to begin set two, serving two aces and picking up a kill that saw Concord hold a 7-4 edge. Sophomore middle hitter Jasmine Anderson paced the middle half of the frame, hitting for a kill and picking up a block to lead 15-14. Freshman right side Maddie Stull connected on a kill and swatted a block to tie the game 18-18, but a late Hilltoppers' charge tied the match 1-1.
 
Set 3
With both teams battling for the advantage to begin the third set, Thompson recorded a pair of kills that helped the Mountain Lions take an 8-5 lead. Then, a kill from Brown and a solo block from Pilant capped off a four-point scoring spurt to jump ahead 13-7. Williams hammered three kills and sophomore middle hitter Meagan Poticher recorded her first kill of the match to make the score 19-13. Two West Liberty errors and a kill from Pilant saw Concord regain control of the game, 2-1.
 
Set 4
WLU controlled the scoreboard to start the fourth frame before a kill from Thompson started a 3-0 CU run to trail by two, 11-9. Williams swung for back-to-back kills, but couldn't dig into the Hilltoppers' lead, 15-12. With West Liberty leading 23-16, the Mountain Lions fought back with a 6-1 run but fell short as WLU forced a fifth set. Pilant hit for three kills during the spurt and teamed up with Poticher for a block.
 
Set 5
Three kills from Williams pushed Concord out in front 6-3 to begin the winner-take-all game. Then, a kill from Thompson and an ace from sophomore defensive specialist Allie Davis grew the lead to four, 9-5. Williams crushed the final four kills of the match to lift CU into the MEC Semifinal round for the first time in program history.
 
Match Stats
Williams came up one kill short of her career-best and the program record of 25 kills along with 19 digs for a double-double. Thompson also picked up a double-double, swinging for 15 kills and picking up 11 digs. 
 
Davis logged the first 30-dig game of her career, finishing right on the mark. Defensively, Pilant led the way with eight total blocks and contributed 12 kills. Anderson (six blocks) and Poticher (five blocks) were also active on the defensive end. Sophomore setter Paige Richmond (28) and freshman setter Rylee Wise (25) led Concord in assists.
 
The Mountain Lions will challenge the number one seed from the MEC South Division in host West Virginia State Friday at 5:00 p.m.