ETTRICK, Va. – The Concord University volleyball team finished off a 4-0 weekend with wins over Bowie State and Shepherd Saturday at the Virginia State Classic.
Game 1: Concord 3 – Bowie State 0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-18)
Concord controlled all three sets and used a balanced attack to earn it third straight sweep of the weekend.
No Mountain Lion had more than nine kills, but 10 different players accounted for CU's 37 kills in the match. Junior outside hitter
Meg Williams notched nine kills while fellow junior outside hitter
Chloe Thompson added eight kills. Sophomore right side
Maddie Stull netted seven kills.
Concord slowly pulled away in the first set as it led 15-13, but ran off five of the next six points to take a 20-14 lead. Bowie State closed to within 21-18, but a kill from junior middle hitter
Jasmine Anderson and back-to-back kills from Williams allowed CU to close out the game.
In the middle game, Concord scored the first seven points and never looked back. Two service aces by junior setter
Paige Richmond was sandwiched around four errors by the Bulldogs.
Leading 7-5 in the third set, Concord opened up a 12-7 edge with freshman outside hitter
Brooklyn McCroskey netting two of her three kills for the match during the spurt. Bowie State never let CU get away in the closing set, but also never threatened the lead as the Maroon and Gray led by as much as eight points, 22-14, late in the set.
Richmond tallied 15 assists. Junior libero
Allie Davis went for 23 digs in just two sets of action. Williams added seven digs to go with her nine kills. And freshman middle hitter
Addison Adkins racked up seven digs as well.
Game 2: Concord 3 – Shepherd 2 (25-27, 22-25, 25-22, 25-18, 15-13)
Concord rallied from 2-0 down to move to 4-0 on the season. It marks the second time in three years that the Mountain Lions start the year 4-0.
Shepherd hit .258 and .182 in the first two games to go up 2-0, but from there Concord held Shepherd to .104, .083 and -.176 in hitting.
In the third set, Concord had to overcome an early 10-4 deficit. The Mountain Lions ripped off four straight points with Adkins accounting for two. Still down 15-11, Concord went on a 6-0 run with half the scoring coming on three straight aces by Davis. CU was able to hold off Shepherd for the remainder of the game.
Two straight kills by Anderson to open the fourth set allowed Concord to take an early lead, and the Rams could only tie the set once, 3-3. Anderson helped CU close out of the set with one of her 10 kills in the match.
Both teams hit into the negatives in the fifth, but it was Concord that outlasted the Rams thanks in part to six Shepherd attack errors along with two service errors and two setting errors. CU trailed 11-7 and 13-11 in the fifth as it was able to prevail.
Thompson and Williams both had 14 kills while Anderson's 10 kills were a career high. Thompson notched her second double-double of the weekend with 16 digs. Davis had 20 digs while Anderson aided the defense with six blocks. Adkins chipped in five blocks.
Richmond had her own double-double with 20 assists and 10 digs. Sophomore setter
Haley Sweeney contributed 19 assists and 10 digs for her first career double-double.
The Mountain Lions play three matches at UVa.-Wise's Cavalier Classic starting 12:00 p.m. Friday versus King.
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