NEWPORT NEWS, VA. – The William Peace volleyball team took the court earlier today for the final day of the Christopher Newport Invitational. They started the day against the Vikings of Berry College followed by a match vs. the no. 7 ranked Raiders of Mount Union. The Pacers dropped both matches in three sets.
Just like in yesterday's opening match, the Pacers (2-11) didn't come ready to play but improved as the match progressed. They lost the first set, 25-9, committing six of their 10 attacking errors in addition to six of their 14 reception errors for the match.
WPU dropped set two, 25-15, but then played Berry down to the wire in the third. The Pacers hit .348 as a team during the final set and came out on a tear taking an 11-3 lead. The Vikings responded with a run own of their own though, taking nine of the next 11 points to make it a 13-12 game.
With the game tied at 17, the Pacers went on a four point spurt to take a 21-17 lead behind two kills from Meghan Luffman and two Viking's attacking errors, but WPU committed costly errors down the stretch and Berry closed out the match with the 25-23 third set win.
The Pacers came out sharper in their second match of the day against Mount Union (10-0) but the Raiders were too much to handle. WPU withered down the stretch against CNU in their second match yesterday, but they looked stronger all the way through the final set playing to the end today despite losing in three sets: 25-13, 25-16, and 25-17.
Megan Mansfield led the team on the day with 13 kills, Merica Ivey added nine kills, and Luffman contributed eight. Sarah Weavil handled the setting today and dished out 36 total assists. Maddie Irvin led the defensive efforts with 28 digs on the day.
The WPU volleyball team will return to action Tuesday, Sep. 16 at 7:00 p.m. in their first USA South match of the year against the Battling Bishops of NC Wesleyan.
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