Christopher Newport Volleyball entered the second and final day of the 2021 Captains Classic with a 2-0 record on the weekend. After a four-set win over Clarkson that was followed by a loss to Illinois Wesleyan, the Captains finished the weekend 3-1; a strong showing in the season's opening weekend.

Christopher Newport 3, Clarkson 1 | (25-21, 25-16, 20-25, 25-23)

First Set

Despite scoring the match's first four points, the Captains never led by more than four in the first set. Clarkson seemingly had an answer each time CNU tried to pull away, always able to draw even, but were rarely able to get out to a lead of their own. With the score even at 21, The Captains rallied out of a timeout to once again score four points in a row to take set one.

Second Set

The CNU attack came alive in the second set as the Captains combined for 20 kills. Annie Ingrham led the team with five, Maddie Carter added four, while three other players had three kills each.The Captains strung together an 16-6 to wrap up the second set, with Carter hammering home three straight kills to push CNU out to a 2-0 match lead.

Third Set

The Captains' hopes of a three-set sweep were diminished by numerous errors in the third set. CNU attackers committed 11 errors, along with three service errors. The errors proved too much to overcome as Clarkson took the third set to stave off a CNU sweep. 

Fourth Set

Errors once again plagued the Captains early in the fourth set as a resilient Clarkson squad put up a fight. The Golden Knights led for most of this set, with CNU unable to even the score until it was 15-15. Mackenzie Wright and Maddie Carter each registered four kills in this set, but the two sides remained even all the way up to 23-23. Rebecca Frey took over the serve, and after a Clarkson attack error brought up set point, Frey turned in an ace to lock up a win for the Captains.

Illinois Wesleyan 3, Christopher Newport 0 | (25-18, 25-17, 25-21)

First Set

Illinois Wesleyan took the lead on the set's first point and never gave up that lead. The Titans opened the match on a 10-2 run, which created an insurmountable lead. CNU struggled on the attack, only registering six kills in the opening set.

Second Set

The second set was almost identical to the first; IWU started out hot on a 12-3 run and never looked back. The Captains began to round back into form late in this set, ending on a 7-3 run, but it was not enough to overcome the lead the Titans had built earlier in the set. 

Third Set

The third set was much more competitive than the previous two, with eight tie scores and two lead changes. Neither side led by more than two until both teams reached 10. Kyla McIntyre finished the set with three kills, and her second tied the score at 19. But following that, the Titans mounted a rally that saw them score six of final eight points to finish a three-set win.

News & Notes

• Annie Inghram made an immediate impact for the Captains, totalling eight kills in her collegiate debut against Clarkson.
• Mackenzie Wright leads CNU in kills (54) and blocks (10) through the first week of the season.
• Anna Dean and Rebecca Frey have posted quite the challenge for opposing serve receivers. They've combined for 23 services aces through the first week of the season.

2021 Captains Classic All-Tournament Team

CNU - Sammy Carroll
CNU - Maddie Carter
Susquehanna - Rosina Esposito
Susquehanna - Lizzie Herestofa
Illinois Wesleyan - Jessica McCall
Illinois Wesleyan - Courtney McAuliffe
Cabrini - Hannah Dalton
Lynchburg - Paige O'Donnell
Clarkson - Sara Galante

Next Up

Christopher Newport kicks off a four-game road trip this week starting on Wednesday. The Captains face Bridgewater on Wednesday at 6:00pm before a weekend trek to Raleigh, N.C.