PETERSBURG, VA. – Behind a balanced attack, the Chowan Volleyball team picked up a strong 3-1 CIAA Northern Division victory over rival Virginia State on Tuesday evening.

THE BASICS

FINAL | Chowan 3, Virginia State 1 (10-25, 25-17, 26-24, 25-16)

RECORDS | Chowan 4-7 (4-4, 1-0), Virginia State 12-6 (7-3, 1-1)

LOCATION | Petersburg, Va. (VSU Multisport Complex)

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

Courtney O'Keefe and Kayla Gates paced the offense with nine kills each.  Sydney Hiner tallied six kills.

Micayla Pope pushed up 22 assists and posted 11 digs on the evening.  Alyssa Born recorded 14 digs, while Meghan Mutter produced a career-high 11 digs.

Virginia State out-produced the Hawks 42-30 in kills and posted four blocks.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Set:

Chowan struggled to get the offense moving in the opening set as Virginia State started the match with a 10-3 advantage.  Kayla Gates tallied two kills during the run.

The Trojans continued their run to open the match to 20-9.  VSU would move on to a 1-0 set lead with a 25-10 victory.

Second Set:

Chowan rebounded following a disappointing opening set to even the match at 1-all.  Chowan benefited from early errors by the Trojans to lead 6-2.  Sydney Hiner tallied a kill in the stretch.

Virginia State rallied to take the lead 9-7, but the Hawks would counter to regain the lead at 16-15 lead after back-to-back errors by the Trojans.   Micayla Pope registered a kill followed by a service ace by Sydney Hiner forced a VSU timeout leading 18-15.

Coming out of the timeout, Sydney Hiner and Kimberly Evans notched a kill each to keep the momentum.  A kill and service ace by Courtney O'Keefe forced the final timeout of the set with the Hawks leading 23-17.

Milica Vejnovic finished off the set with a kill before an attack error ended the set.

Third Set:

The Hawks jumped out to an early 3-0 lead as the Trojans started the set with errors.  Back-to-back kills by Courtney O'Keefe pushed the advantage to 9-4 for the Hawks.

Chowan would maintain a three point advantage throughout the early portion of the set before the Trojans would take the lead 16-15.

Down 21-18, the Hawks rallied back to even the match at 22-all as Milica Vejnovic and Courtney O'Keefe tallied kills ad forced a timeout.

A service error and a kill by Kayla Gates allowed the Hawks to take the third set, 26-24, and a 2-1 set advantage.

Fourth Set:

Chowan dominated the fourth set posting eight kills and only one error in the set.  The set started with a back-and-forth battle with the Trojans leading 11-8 early.

Kayla Gates' kill coupled with two errors by the Trojans evened the set at 11-all.  Courtney O'Keefe registered a kill along with two more errors gave the Hawks the 15-12 lead.

The Hawks would continue to push forward to take the set on a 10-3 run to end the match.  Virginia State produced eight of the final 10 points for the Hawks on errors.

Courtney O'Keefe put down the final two kills the Hawks needed for the set and match victory.

UP NEXT

Chowan travels to UNC Pembroke on Saturday, September 29 in non-conference action.  First serve is at 3pm.