Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – On the final day of the CNU Invitational, the 19th-ranked Christopher Newport volleyball team split a pair of matches as the Captains stormed past Scranton, 3-1 (25-11, 25-17, 24-26, 25-19) before succumbing to No. 15 Eastern, 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-21) on Saturday afternoon at the Freeman Center.

During the two matches, Abby McIntyre orchestrated a well-rounded effort while splitting time on the outside and at libero. Overall, she finished with a team-high 28 digs and 16 kills. She was helped by fellow second-year standout Rachel Conway, who collected 41 assists and tied with Chastity Lacy for the team-lead with eight blocks on Saturday.

Briana Sutton also fired 13 kills during the two contests, while Brooke Moore pumped a team-high four aces and totaled 25 digs as well.

With the split, Christopher Newport remains at .500 with a 10-10 record. Scranton falls to 5-15 with a pair of setbacks on Saturday, while Eastern finished undefeated at the tournament and improves to 16-2 overall.

After a pair of grueling matches on Friday, the Captains fell into a rhythm early in Saturday's opener against Scranton. Getting off to a fast start, the hosts stormed out to a 15-4 lead, including a pair of rejections by Lacy and a block, kill, and four assists by Conway. With a fast double-digit edge, CNU never relented. Lacy continued to do work up front with two darts, while Sutton added a bullet to push the lead to 21-9.

Four points away from an opening set victory, Christopher Newport wrapped up the frame in style. Following a Scranton miscue, Moore unleashed an ace before McIntyre added a kill to earn set-point. Although the Royals staved off the inevitable for one rally, Hannah Miller iced the 25-11 victory with a gorgeous cross-court blast following a feed by Conway.

In the second set, Scranton hung around early before Lacy came through with a solo stop and Maddie McCann uncorked three straight rockets to earn a 13-5 advantage. Later, Ashley Rock punched a kill and ace during the middle of the stanza before McIntyre tossed back-to-back winners on the way to a 20-11 edge.

Although the Royals continued to battle and won a few rallies at the tail end of the set, Krista Hughes bashed two straight kills before McCann and Rock returned for one each on the way to a comfortable 25-17 victory.

In the third, Scranton came back for revenge. The Captains started quickly, including a block and blast by Terran Bargeron, but the visitors continued to fight. Although three kills by Sutton and a pair by Hughes lifted the hosts to a 15-8 lead, the Royals were undeterred. Winning 14 of the next 20 rallies, Scranton snatched a 22-21 lead. Although Jessie Kolden knotted the score on the very next play, the visitors capitalized on its late push to swipe a 26-24 win.

Although the Royals landed a blow, Christopher Newport quickly shook it off in the fourth frame. Sutton, McCann, and Miller all chipped in with early kills before Kolden added a pair on the way to a 9-6 lead. Looking to extend their advantage, the Captains picked up a block and kill by Miller before Moore slung another ace to secure a 13-7 edge.

Searching for a little more breathing room, McCann answered with a kill and ace on back-to-back plays before adding another dart later in the frame to take a four-point lead at 20-16. Despite a late surge by Scranton that whittled the visitor's deficit down to two, Miller shot back with two more kills, while Moore contributed one last ace to help seal the 25-19 victory.

Sutton and McCann tied for the team-lead with nine kills apiece against the Royals, while McIntyre chipped in with a career-high 21 digs. Miller also added eight kills for the Captains, and Conway came through with 30 assists to go along with five kills on just eight swings. Moore had three aces and 12 digs as well.

Following an outstanding effort in the opener, Christopher Newport could not quite keep the run going against the vaunted Eastern Eagles in the nightcap. After stumbling a bit in the early part of the first frame, the Captains fought back and nabbed a brief lead at 13-12 behind three kills from McIntyre and a pair of combo blocks by Conway and Miller.

Unfortunately, CNU could never quite find its footing after that. Although Lacy had a nice surge at the end of the set with two kills and a pair of blocks, Eastern always had a response and eventually edged out Christopher Newport, 25-20.

With a tough ending to the first set, the Captains jumped on the visitors in the second. Once again, Lacy was at the forefront with an ace and two kills before Conway stoned two straight attack attempts to grab an 11-8 lead heading into an Eastern timeout. Sadly, the stoppage worked to perfection for the Eagles as the squad won six of the next seven points to retake a 15-12 advantage.

After that point, the visitors remained in control. Despite a pair of CNU timeouts, nothing could shift the momentum. Lacy added a nice punctuation mark to her set with a kill and block during the waning moments of the frame, but EU took the stanza, 25-19.

Staring at a two-set hole, Christopher Newport once again looked good at the start of the third as the team took a 10-6 lead behind a pair kills from both McIntyre and Lacy. Unfortunately, things quickly went awry. McIntyre added two more tracers, while Conway lit up an ace, but the visitors used a huge mid-set run to overtake the Captains on the way to a 20-17 advantage.

Although McIntyre tallied another kill before Lacy and Sutton added their own ropes during the final few rallies, Eastern kept rolling. Eventually, the Eagles completed the three-set sweep with a 25-21 triumph in the third.

After posting a career-high dig total in the first match, McIntyre showed off her offensive skills with a team-high 10 kills against Eastern. Conway led the defense with six blocks, while Lacy added five. Moore stabilized the back row with 13 digs, and Rachel Close chipped in with 12 for the Captains.

Christopher Newport will return to action on Wednesday when the team kicks off Capital Athletic Conference play with a 7 p.m. match-up against No. 25 Salisbury.

---CNU---