PETERSBURG, Va. –  The Chowan Volleyball team started off slow but finished strong as the Hawks advanced to the 2017 CIAA Volleyball Semifinals with a 3-1 opening round victory against Johnson C. Smith on Friday afternoon.

THE BASICS

FINAL | Chowan 3, Johnson C. Smith 1 (17-25, 25-18, 25-12, 25-13)

RECORDS | Chowan 16-11, Johnson C. Smith 15-9

LOCATION | Petersburg, Va. (VSU Multipurpose Center)

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

Brittany Tschida (12) and Milica Vejnovic (11) paced the Hawks with double-digit kills in the match.  CIAA Rookie of the Year, Kayla Gates, posted seven kills.  Vejnovic tallied a double-double with 10 digs.

Karisa Patterson dished out 30 assists and 11 digs to notch another double-double.

Courtney O'Keefe tallied five kills in the match but was the leader defensively with four total blocks (2 solo, 2 assists).

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Set: Chowan 17, Johnson C. Smith 25

Chowan had an uncharacteristic opening set as CIAA Setter of the Year, Karisa Patterson, was tagged with four bad sets allowing Johnson C. Smith to jump out to an early 9-3 lead to force a Chowan timeout.  Milica Vejnovic recorded the first kill for the Hawks at 9-4.

The Golden Bulls widen the gap to 14-4 before Brittany Tschida notched back-to-back kills and a kill by Karisa Patterson closed the gap to 14-8 forced a JCSU timeout.

JCSU continued to push forward leading 17-10 before a small 4-0 run cut the deficit to 17-14.  The Hawks would close the gap to 19-17 gaining momentum on errors by the Golden Bulls.

The Golden Bulls finished off the set with a 6-0 run to take the opening set 25-17.

Second Set: Chowan 25, Johnson C. Smith 18

The Hawks looked to figure things out in the second set as the Hawks jumped out to an early 5-2 lead to force a timeout.  Out of the timeout, Milica Vejnovic notched two kills to push the Hawks further ahead, 9-3.

JCSU would battle back to close the Hawks' lead to 12-10 and again at 14-12.  Makayla Castro notched a kill before a JCSU error allowed the Hawks to lead 16-13 midway through the set.

Milica Vejnovic would end the back-and-forth error streak with a kill.  Brittany Tschida recorded a kill to push the Hawks in front 21-17 forcing a JCSU timeout.

Following the timeout, Chowan finished the set grabbing the final kill by CIAA Rookie of the Year Kayla Gates to knot the match up at 1-1.

Third Set: Chowan 25, Johnson C. Smith 12

Kills by Milica Vejnovic and Alyssa Born opened the third set to give the Hawks a 5-2 lead.  Courtney O'Keefe notched a kill followed by a service ace by Karisa Patterson forced a timeout as the Hawks led 7-2.

The Hawks would find their groove leading the Golden Bulls 17-8.  Karisa Patterson and Kayla Gates tallied two kills each to spark the rally forcing the final JCSU timeout.

Courtney O'Keefe, Cheryl Thomas, Milica Vejnovic and Brittany Tschida got in the action with a kill followed by a Bailey Zavala service ace to push the Hawks ahead 22-12.

Brittany Tschida registered two kills and a block to give the Hawks a 25-12 set to take the 2-1 set lead.

Fourth Set: Chowan 25, Johnson C. Smith 13

Chowan was the beneficiary of JCSU errors in the early going as the Hawks led 10-4 as Milica Vejnovic notched two kills and Kayla Gates with one as the only kills for the Hawks in the early going.

The Hawks continued to increase their advantage with Brittany Tschida and Courtney O'Keefe tallied a kill each to lead 17-9.  Most of the Hawks points in the set came off Golden Bull miscues.

Karisa Patterson notched a service ace to force JCSU to call their final timeout.  Courtney O'Keefe, Milica Vejnovic and Kayla Gates pushed the Hawks to a 22-12 advantage late in the set.

Brittany Tschida ended the set like the second set with two kills and a block.  Kayla Gates assisted on the match clinching point.

UP NEXT

Chowan advances to the CIAA Volleyball Semifinals on Saturday, November 18.  The Hawks will face the winner between Virginia Union and Winston-Salem State at 4:30pm.