ELIZABETH CITY, N.C.- The West Chester University women's volleyball team (3-3) returned to action on Friday in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, for the Elizabeth City State Viking Classic. West Chester got the Viking Classic underway with the first match of the weekend against Belmont Abbey (4-1) on Friday morning before facing Chowan (0-4) later in the afternoon. West Chester fell to Belmont Abbey by a 3-2 final in five sets for the Golden Rams' second five-set setback in the last three matches before bouncing back with a 3-1 victory over Chowan on Friday afternoon to return to 3-3 on the season.
Match 1: Belmont Abbey 3 WCU 2
In the first set, West Chester jumped out to an early 11-6 lead and used this advantage to withstand a Belmont Abbey comeback bid to hold on for a 26-24 first-set victory.
Perhaps riding momentum from a late first-set run, Belmont Abbey captured the second and third sets by 25-23 and 25-16 finals to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
West Chester answered back with a 25-15 fourth-set victory, which forced a decisive fifth set, but fell in the fifth by a 15-12 final.
Julia Kwitchoff (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Wheatfield) led West Chester in kills and blocks with 12 kills and four blocks, while
Bria Stepp (Cranberry Twp, Pa./Seneca Valley) led the team in aces and assists with seven aces and 33 assists.
Hailey Atkins (Morristown, N.J./Morristown) led the team in digs with 21, while sister
Gwen Atkins (Morristown, N.J./Morristown) tied with Kwitchoff for the team lead in kills with 12.
Match 2: WCU 3 Chowan 1
West Chester dropped the first set to Chowan, 25-23, but bounced back with wins in each of the next three sets, taking the second and fourth sets 25-16, while winning the third 25-22.
West Chester closed the match on a 7-2 run, including an
Anna Richardson (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) kill to finish off the 3-1 victory.
CeCe Isenberg (Berwick, Pa./Berwick) led West Chester in kills with 18, while
Brooke Forester (Langhorne, Pa./Conwell-Egan) added 10 of her own.
Gwen Atkins and
Elianna Freeman (Jersey Village, TX./Jersey Village) tied for the team lead in aces with three each, while
Hailey Atkins led the team in digs with 17, along with nine from Richardson.
Ada Koksal (Istanbul, Turkey/Terakki) led West Chester in assists with 36 in the four-set triumph.
West Chester hit .273 (53-20-121) in the victory, including a stellar .423 (15-4-26) in the second-set victory and .385 (11-1-26) in the fourth set.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action tomorrow for two more matches in the Viking Classic as the Golden Rams take on Glenville State at 10:30 a.m. and host Elizabeth City State at 6:30 to finish the weekend.
