MURFREESBORO, N.C. – The Chowan Volleyball rallied on senior night to hand Virginia Union a CIAA Northern Division loss on Friday evening, 3-2.

THE BASICS

FINAL | Chowan 3, Virginia Union 2

RECORDS | Chowan 11-16 (11-6), Virginia Union 12-14 (11-6)

LOCATION | Murfreesboro, N.C. (Helms Center)

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

Sydney Hiner and Micayla Pope notched double-doubles in the contest.  Sydney Hiner tallied 11 kills and 21 digs, while Pope registered 44 assists and added 14 digs.

Alyssa Born posted a team-high 25 digs.  Milica Vejnovic led the Hawks with 16 kills.  Breona Young and Courtney O'Keefe notched 14 and 12 kills each.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Set:

Virginia Union opened the match with four straight points leading to a 6-2 advantage.  A kill by Sydney Hiner and Courtney O'Keefe closed the gap to 10-6 before a block by O'Keefe and a service ace by Micayla Pope evened the set at 10-all.

The Panthers would go on a 5-0 run to force a Chowan timeout.  Out of the timeout, Chowan went on a 4-1 run with Sydney Hiner netting the lone kill to close the deficit to 16-14.

With VUU leading 20-17, the Panthers pushed their lead to 24-17 and take the set 25-20.

Second Set:

The early portion of the set saw both teams swap points with seniors Raven Finley-Flowers and Milica Vejnovic made it 6-5 in favor of VUU.

Three kills by Sydney Hiner and one by Courtney O'Keefe gave the Hawks an 11-8 lead.  Chowan continued the momentum as O'Keefe and Milica Vejnovic sparked a 7-1 run to push the advantage to 18-11.

VUU grabbed a point on a kill but the Hawks would respond with a 7-1 run to take the set.  Raven Finley-Flowers sparked the rally with a kill.  A kill and a block by Breona Young continued the momentum.  Milica Vejnovic tallied two kills to end the set, 25-13.

Third Set:

Both teams swapped points early with Sydney Hiner, Milica Vejnovic, and Breona Young posted kills early.

The teams continued to trade points as Milica Vejnovic registered a kill to trim the deficit to 15-12.

VUU kept the Hawks at arm's length as the Panthers finished off the set with a 5-1 run to take the set 25-19.

Fourth Set:

Chowan trailed 7-3 early in the set as the Panthers had the momentum for the previous set.

Milica Vejnovic sparked a rally to take the 9-8 lead with a kill.  Meghan Mutter served up an ace along with a kill by Breona Young and Sydney Hiner.

Virginia Union countered with a 5-0 run to force a Chowan timeout, 13-9.  Out of the timeout, Breona Young and Courtney O'Keefe tallied a kill to trim the deficit to 13-11.

Sydney Hiner and Courtney O'Keefe continued to swing to regain the lead at 17-16.  Two huge kills by Breona Young allowed the Hawks to lead 22-17.

VUU would not go away quietly, but Breona Young would end the set 25-22 with two kills.

Fifth Set:

The Hawks jumped out to an early 6-2 lead as Courtney O'Keefe and Raven Finley-Flowers started the set with a block.  O'Keefe, Sydney Hiner, and Milica Vejnovic posted a kill during the stretch.

The Panthers rallied to even the set at 6-all, but the Hawks would counter with 5-0 run at the change over to lead 11-6.  Breona Young posted a kill and 1.5 blocks along with two kills by Milica Vejnovic during the run.

Chowan held the lead for the remainder of the set despite VUU trimming the deficit to 13-12 and 14-13.  Courtney O'Keefe would give the Hawks the win with a kill.

UP NEXT

Chowan will wait to see where they are seeded in the 2018 CIAA Volleyball Championship.  The Hawks will play on Tuesday, November 6.