Concord Loses at West Virginia Wesleyan

BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – The Concord University volleyball team lost a close four-set match to West Virginia Wesleyan Tuesday night in a Mountain East Conference contest at the Rockefeller Center.
 
Concord (19-6, 7-5 MEC) narrowly couldn't force a fifth set as West Virginia Wesleyan (17-8, 9-4 MEC) closed out the match in four sets. The set scores were 25-16, 17-25, 16-25, 22-25.
 
The Mountain Lions employed a balanced attack in the first set as junior middle hitter Jasmine Anderson, sophomore right side Maddie Stull, and sophomore defensive specialist Camille Testerman each finished the opener with two kills. Where Concord shined was in the middle, racking up five blocks and forcing 12 attacking errors out of WV Wesleyan to cruise to a nine-point win in the opener.
 
CU got out to an early 4-0 lead in the second thanks to two aces from junior outside hitter Meg Williams. The Bobcats battled back and the set was back-and-forth until the 17-16 mark. With Concord in front by a point, the Bobcats rattled off nine straight points to snatch the second set and even up the match.
 
In the third set, it was Concord who went down early as the Bobcats found themselves on top 13-5. Concord was unable to rally despite three kills from Williams and two kills from Stull in the set.
 
The fourth set saw both teams playing some of their best volleyball of the match and it was a thriller. Concord trailed early, 14-8, but battled back with three straight blocks to tie the set at 16-16. Anderson, Testerman, and Williams were all involved in the block party. CU took its first lead of the fourth with a kill from Stull to make it 18-17. The teams traded points until the 22-22 mark, when the Bobcats scored the final three points.
 
Stull and Williams each had nine kills to lead Concord. Williams also led the way with 19 digs,. Junior libero Allie Davis collected 11 digs and junior outside hitter Chloe Thompson racked up 10. Sophomore setter Haley Sweeney finished with 15 assists while junior setter Paige Richmond ended the match with 14.
 
The Mountain Lions return home to host MEC-South leading Charleston Friday at 7:00 p.m. at the Carter Center.