Box Score MURFREESBORO, NC- The Chowan University volleyball team came out on top of a 3-1 match-up against CIAA Northern Division opponent Virginia State University on Thursday evening.  Thursday's contest against the Lady Trojans was the Hawks' annual Dig Pink match, with proceeds benefiting the Side Out Foundation. 
 
Brianna Smith and Suraya Chase led the effort for the Hawks with 15 kills apiece in the victory.  Allison Smith collected 21 assists on the afternoon and Kelsey Schlake chipped in with 19 assists.  Cindy Ehrich held down the back row with 19 digs.  Chase and Brianna Smith tallied 13 and 11 digs respectively. 
 
The Lady Trojans were led by Aubree Parker who notched 16 kills, followed by Whitley Bradley with 15.  Imani Wood led all players in the contest with 22 digs in the loss.  Diamond Simpson accounted for 37 assists for Virginia State. 
 
All of the sets were closely contested.  The Hawks held a narrow lead against the Lady Trojans early on before pulling ahead 13-7 as a result of five straight unanswered points.   Virginia State closed in on Chowan but the Hawks held on to the 21-20 lead before closing out the match 25-22. 
 
The Lady Trojans answered back in the second set to grab an early 5-1 lead thanks to four Hawks errors and a kill from Parker.  Chowan responded with five straight points off kills from Lauren East, Brianna Smith, and Chase along with a Lady Trojan attack error to take a 6-5 lead.  Both teams fought to hold on to the momentum until Chowan pulled away 16-13 off serves from Brianna Smith.  Virginia State fought back to regain the lead and take the second set 30-28. 
 
In the fourth set, the Lady Trojans used the momentum to their advantage and grabbed an early 14-7 advantage.  Trailing 16-13, the Hawks used a 7-0 run off serves from Ehrich to take a 20-16 lead before grabbing the 25-22 set win. 
 
Virginia State would not go down without a fight, and started out with a quick 6-3 lead in the fourth set.  Down 5-8, the Hawks responded with six straight points, five of which came off Allison Smith's serves, to move ahead 11-8.  The Lady Trojans put together a run of their own to move ahead 21-20.  Chowan won a point and the serve off a kill from Chase before a Lady Trojan attack error put the Hawks ahead 22-21.  With the score knotted 23-23, a kill by Allison Smith and a service ace from Chase secured the 25-23 win for Chowan. 
 
The Hawks move to 10-1 overall and 10-0 in CIAA play after Thursday's win.  Chowan travels to Banner Elk, NC on Saturday to take on Lees McRae in a 4:00pm contest. 
 
Virginia State falls to 8-7 overall and 5-2 in league play.