SALISBURY, N.C. – The Chowan Volleyball team fell against Belmont Abbey and Montevallo in the opening day of play of the Catawba Invitational on the road.

THE BASICS

FINAL | Chowan 1, Belmont Abbey 3 | Chowan 0, Montevallo 3

RECORDS | Chowan (0-2), Belmont Abbey (1-0), Montevallo (1-1)

INSIDE THE BOXSCORES

Milica Vejnovic led the Hawks with 13 kills including seven in the nightcap.  Vejnovic finished with 16 digs on the night.

Sydney Bell led the charge in the opening match with double-digit kills (10).  Brittany Tschida chipped in with 11 kills.

Karisa Patterson dished out 48 assists on the evening to go with nine kills and 10 digs.  Bailey Zavala recorded 40 digs on the night with a team-high 32 in the opening match.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Chowan 1, Belmont Abbey 3 (33-31, 18-25, 21-25, 24-26)

1^st Set (Chowan 33, Belmont Abbey 31)

Both teams traded points for most of the opening set before Belmont Abbey pulled away to take a 17-11 lead.  Brittany Tschida stopped the Crusader run with a kill that sparked a 6-0 Hawk run to knot things at 17-all.  Tschida capped the run with a kill forcing a timeout.

Belmont Abbey countered to take a 23-19 lead before Sydney Bell ended the rally.  An attack error and another kill by Bell tied things once again at 24-all.

Neither team could pull in front for the set point until Karisa Patterson recorded a kill followed by a Crusader attacking error for the 33-31 set victory.

2^nd Set (Chowan 18, Belmont Abbey 25)

Chowan jumped out to an early 7-3 advantage recording only two kills by Sydney Bell.  Belmont Abbey would take advantage of the Hawks' attacking errors to go on a 12-2 run to take the lead 15-9.

A service error and Karisa Patterson's service ace cut the deficit to 17-14.  Back-to-back attacking errors by the Hawks ended the set in favor of Belmont Abbey.

3^rd Set (Chowan 21, Belmont Abbey 25)

Chowan and Belmont Abbey battled throughout most of the set knotting things at 12 and 14-all.  The Crusaders opened their advantage to 22-15 late in the set before Courtney O'Keefe tallied a kill to halt the run.

Chowan used kills by Karisa Patterson, Kayla Gates and Brittany Tschida to bring the contest to within three, 24-21.  A Crusader kill ended the set to move to a 2-1 set lead.

4^th Set (Chowan 24, Belmont Abbey 26)

The Hawks took advantage of the early mistakes by the Crusaders to open up a 17-11 lead.  An 8-2 run by the Crusaders knotted things at 19-all.  Belmont Abbey took the lead at 22-20 before a Karisa Patterson service ace and a Milica Vejnovic kill put the Hawks back on top 23-22. 

Belmont Abbey found the final two points they needed to take the set and match.

Chowan 0, Montevallo 3 (17-25, 16-25, 15-25)

1^st Set (Chowan 17, Montevallo 25)

Chowan and Montevallo battled to open the contest with neither team gaining the advantage.  Courtney O'Keefe picked up a kill to cut the deficit to one, 13-12.  Montevallo went on an 8-1 rally to take a 21-13 lead late.

Brittany Tschida capped a small 4-1 run to bringing the contest to 22-17 before Montevallo finished the final three points for the set.

2^nd Set (Chowan 16, Montevallo 25)

Montevallo used the momentum to jump out to a 7-3 lead.  Kills by Milica Vejnovic and Karisa Patterson gave the Hawks a 3-1 advantage before Montevallo scored six unanswered.

Brittany Tschida would close the gap to 10-8 with a kill as Montevallo would pull away stretching their lead to 20-12 before taking the set 25-16.

3^rd Set (Chowan 15, Montevallo 25)

Chowan rallied from an early 12-5 deficit as Milica Vejnovic tallied back-to-back kills to trail 13-8.  Montevallo's lead was aided by the Hawks' miscues to stretch their lead to 22-11.  Brittany Tschida picked up the lone kill to end the scoring for the Hawks.

UP NEXT

Chowan returns to the court on Saturday, September 2 to face host Catawba (1-0) in the final contest for the Hawks of the Catawba Invitational at 4:00 pm.