Concord Thwarts West Liberty Comeback, Advances to MEC Semifinals in Five-Set Thriller

BUCKHANNON, W.Va. - The Concord University volleyball team advanced to the Mountain East Conference Tournament Semifinals defeating the MEC North Division Champion, West Liberty, in an epic five-set match Thursday afternoon inside the Rockefeller Center.
 
CU moves on to face Charleston in the conference semifinals 7:30 p.m. Friday.
 
Concord (21-8, 8-7 MEC) fended off a fierce West Liberty (18-13, 10-4 MEC) comeback attempt in the third straight MEC Quarterfinal meeting between the two sides. The set scores were 25-21, 26-24, 21-25, 18-25, and 17-15.
 
In the win or go home fifth set, CU faced a 7-2 deficit, but roared off eight of the next 10 points to lead 10-9. After going back-and-forth, Concord still trailed 15-14 and was up against its second match point of the day. But, a block from junior middle hitter Jasmine Anderson  and sophomore right side Maddie Stull kept Concord alive. Anderson followed with a kill, and a West Liberty attack error pushed Concord into the MEC Semifinals for a second straight year.
 
In the opening set, Concord squeaked out a close victory after four kills each from junior outside hitter Meg Williams and freshman middle hitter Addison Adkins. Before Williams closed out the game with one of her season-high 20 kills, CU had to survive a late Hilltoppers' rally. Up 17-12, CU watched West Liberty close to 19-17.
 
In the second, Anderson picked up four kills offensively and her and Stull spearheaded the defensive front which collected five blocks in the set.
 
The third and fourth set saw Concord hit sub .100 in each set and West Liberty capitalized, seizing all the momentum ahead of the fifth set.
 
In the fourth set, though, the Mountain Lions nearly pulled off an unbelievable comeback. Down 19-11, CU trimmed the margin to 20-18 before running out of steam.
 
As a team, Concord hit .139, but had a large advantage at the net. The Mountain Lions finished with 13 blocks to the Hilltoppers' eight.
 
Individually, Williams tallied her 12^th double-double of the year with 17 digs to go with her 20 kills. Junior setter Paige Richmond joins Williams in the double-double club with 25 assists and 11 digs. Sophomore setter Haley Sweeney racked up 22 assists.
 
Junior libero Allie Davis had a wonderful game with 28 digs and 2 aces. Adkins notched a new career high with 17 kills while hitting .268 in the match. Anderson set a new career-high with 10 blocks and just missed a double-double, hammering home nine kills. Stull tallied five kills and five blocks in the win.