INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The Concord University volleyball team hit a season-best .296 and tied its season high with 13 blocks as it slipped past West Virginia State in four sets Tuesday night in a Mountain East Conference contest inside the Walker Convocation Center.

Concord (10-6, 2-0 MEC) breezed to a win in the first set, 25-15, and then recovered from a 25-21 loss in the second set to win the final two sets 27-25 and 25-18.

CU heated up right out of the gate as it hit .387 in the opening set. WVSU (4-8, 0-2 MEC) stayed within striking distance before the Mountain Lions pulled away with a 10-3 run to finish the set. Senior outside hitter Meg Williams tallied three kills during the run while senior middle hitter Jasmine Anderson was in on three blocks. Freshman middle hitter Alivia Stover also contributed two blocks during the spurt.

The Mountain Lions could not keep pace with West Virginia State in the second set as the Yellow Jackets opened up a small lead of 15-12, but it was enough to hold off Concord.

In the crucial third game, CU fell behind 9-5 and saw the deficit reach 14-7. Concord slowly chipped away and got within 16-15 on a Williams' kill. Back-to-back kills from senior outside hitter Chloe Thompson and Williams tied the set for the first time since the first two points of the third game.

The run continued when two Williams' kills was sandwiched between a service ace from senior libero Allie Davis. With a pair of set points, Concord could not close out the Yellow Jackets. Finally, Williams' seventh kill of the set, and a WVSU attack error gave the Mountain Lions a 2-1 lead with a 27-25 set victory.

Concord blitzed out to an 8-1 lead in the fourth set. However, WVSU answered with an 11-5 run to close within 13-12. Three straights points from Concord, including a kill from junior right side Maddie Stull opened up a 16-12 lead. And then Stull squashed any comeback attempt by West Virginia State with an important kill—after a long rally—to push the lead out to 19-14 on CU's way to a 25-18 win.

Williams smashed 18 kills to go with nine digs and five blocks in an all-around impressive match. Stull threw in 13 kills. Sophomore middle hitter Addie Adkins chipped in 12 kills.

Senior setter Paige Richmond handed out 28 assists while fellow senior setter Haley Sweeney added 15 assists.

Defensively, Anderson finished one block shy of her career high with nine blocks. Davis rolled up 25 digs.

Tuesday night was the first time Concord won at West Virginia State since September 2016.

CU plays hosts to Charleston inside the Carter Center 7:00 p.m. Friday in an MEC matchup.