Concord Loses to Wheeling

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord volleyball team was defeated by Wheeling Friday night in four sets of a Mountain East Conference game at the Carter Center.
 
Each set came down to the wire with Wheeling (11-11, 6-2 MEC) taking the first set 25-20, Concord (18-3, 6-2 MEC) taking the second set 25-22, and the last two sets going 25-23 in favor of the Cardinals.
 
CU was unable to overcome nine attack errors in the first set as Wheeling took the first set. Despite the errors, the Mountain Lions hung around and were only down 21-20 after a kill from sophomore right side Maddie Stull. However, WU scored the final four points.
 
After trailing 7-5, the Mountain Lions won six straight points to make it 11-7. The run featured two kills from junior outside hitter Chloe Thompson and two blocks from junior middle hitter Jasmine Anderson and freshman outside hitter Alexis Stack. Despite Wheeling taking a late 21-19 lead, CU won six of the last seven points to even up the match.
 
The Cardinals won the first three points of the third set and held the lead for the entirety of the set. Concord kept cutting into the lead, but every CU run was answered by Wheeling. Thompson and junior outside hitter Meg Williams paced the Concord offense in the third set with five kills each.
 
In the fourth set, things started out similar to the third. Wheeling took the lead and held it until Concord surged out in front to make it 16-14. They grew the advantage to 18-15 behind kills from Anderson and Williams. However, Wheeling responded with a 4-0 run to capture a 19-18 edge. The Cardinals won five of the next seven points to make it 24-20. Facing four match points, Concord stood tall, winning three straight points. However, the comeback came up just short as they lost the last set 25-23.
 
Thompson led all players with 14 kills. Williams finished with a double-double, with 12 kills and 10 digs. Anderson also totaled 12 kills, a career high, and four blocks. Junior libero Allie Davis ended the match with 23 digs and a match-high three aces. Sophomore setter Haley Sweeney notched a career-high 28 assists and junior setter Paige Richmond followed it up with 25 assists of her own.
 
The Mountain Lions stay home to battle West Liberty in a Mountain East cross-divisional matchup Saturday at 10:00 a.m. in the Carter Center.