NEWPORT NEWS, VA. – The William Peace volleyball team played two matches Friday afternoon at the Christopher Newport Invitational losing both of them in three sets. The Pacers fell to Johns Hopkins in their first match followed by the no. 13 ranked Captains of Christopher Newport.

Johns Hopkins (3-5) was a participant in the 2013 national tournament and likes to play at a much faster tempo than the Pacers are used to according to head coach Kevin Daniels.

Nonetheless, WPU came out flat and fell on their faces in set one losing big, 25-8. They dropped set two, 25-14, but showed signs of life in the third.

The Pacers used a 5-0 run to erase an early deficit and jumped ahead, 6-5.  With the game tied at seven, Peace went on a 6-0 run, but the Blue Jays answered right away with a 5-0 swing of their own making it a 13-12 game. It was back and forth from that point on, but Johns Hopkins took a lead at 17-16 which they never relinquished, eventually taking the set, 25-22

In the CNU match, the Pacers came to play early on but were just out-matched by a Captains squad that proved why they are deserving of their national ranking.

WPU kept it close in the first set, but Christopher Newport (9-0) went on a 12-3 run to close things out, 25-14, and they kept it rolling from there. They'd take set two, 25-12, and set three, 25-7.

"It's a great experience for our program to say we've played the talent we have, as long as we have learned from it," said head coach Kevin Daniels.  "We have two more matches tomorrow, one being against the no. 7 team in the country, another chance for us to learn and try to get better."

WPU takes on the Vikings of Berry College Saturday at 12:00 p.m. followed by the no. 7 ranked Raiders of Mount Union at 2:00 p.m.

Live Stats will be available for the match against Mount Union.

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