NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - Christopher Newport Volleyball, ranked fifth in the NCAA Mid Atlantic Region, posted an impressive 3-1 (22-25, 25-15, 25-14, 25-23) over Washington and Lee, who is ranked fourth in the NCAA South Region. CNU now stands at 22-7 while WLU is 21-5.
Miscues proved to be CNU's undoing in the first set as the Captains had nine attack errors on zero W&L blocks in addition to five service errors, allowing the Generals to win the set while earning just 10 kills to the Captains' 15. Despite the mistakes, the Captains still ended up within inches of winning the set. With a 5-4 lead, W&L rattled off seven straight points to go in front 11-5. The Generals advantaged remained by as many as five, and the Captains trailed 20-14 before three consecutive points in CNU's favor cut the deficit to three, 20-17. Down four at 23-19,
Katie Piper and
Megan O'Hara combined for a trio of kills to put the Captains down just 23-22. The unforced errors would go on to end the set as a service and attack error accounted for the Generals last two points for the 25-22 win.
W&L carried the momentum early into the second set as an ace led into three Courtney Berry kills followed by a CNU error to put the Generals ahead 5-0. Christopher Newport would go on to answer with five of their own to notch it at 5-5. Trailing 9-7, CNU secured eight of the next ten to go ahead 15-11. Washington and Lee would twice cut the lead to two with the last coming at 17-15. From there, it was all Captains as they scored the last ten points with just one being an unforced W&L error.
The third set was tight in the early going with it tied at 8-8, but Christopher Newport would blow open the set with seven consecutive points to lead 15-8. W&L looked briefly poised to stage a comeback with the next three points to make it a 15-11 deficit, but a 6-0 CNU run made it 21-11 and shut the door on W&L to take a 2-1 lead.
Washington and Lee started the final frame off strong as they went ahead 7-3, but six of the following eight points went the way of CNU as they tied the set at 9-9. The score would remain tied or in the favor of the visitors for much of the rest of the way. With the Captains down 17-16, they scored the next four points to pull ahead 20-17. Up 23-19, W&L secured the next three points to cut the deficit to just one, 23-22.
Mackenzie Wright responded with a spike, but an error on the ensuing Captains serve gave the ball back to W&L down just 23-23.
Sammy Carroll would then go to feed
Riley Garrison who slammed home a kill for match point.
Katie Piper recorded a season-high 18 kills to go with 17 digs and an ace.
Katie Crofford fell just shy of a double-double with nine kills, 13 digs, and two aces.
Sammy Carroll handed out 39 assists in addition to three aces, four kills, a block, and three digs.
Mackenzie Wright tallied six kills, three solo blocks, and three assisted blocks.
Megan O'Hara recorded eight kills and four blocks, one of the solo variety.
Rebecca Frey collected 16 digs while
Kayleigh Reagan-Smith added 11.
CNU hit .234 for the match compared to just a .109 output for the Generals. In the third set, the Captains posted 16 kills to no errors for an astounding hitting percentage of .615, and the Generals were limited to .080 and .000 in the final two sets with half of their 22 attack errors coming in the fourth. The Captains held a 10-2 advantage in blocks.
Christopher Newport will have a midweek break from matches to get prepared for the CNU Invitational on Friday and Saturday to conclude the regular season. Salisbury is first on the slate for a 7 p.m. contest on Friday night in each team's CAC finale. The Sea Gulls are ranked 11th in the Mid Atlantic region. On Saturday, the Captains will battle Virginia Wesleyan at noon, who is ranked eighth in the South region, and Averett at 2 p.m.
