The Chowan University volleyball team concluded play at the CIAA Round-Up on Sunday afternoon with a thrilling 3-2 win over the Shaw University Lady Bears.  The Hawks improve to 4-3 overall with the victory and advance to 3-0 in conference play. 

Chowan won the first set 25-22 and the third set 25-20.  The Lady Bears picked up 25-20 victories in the second and fourth sets, but the Hawks held on for a 15-13 win in set five to earn the match victory. 

Surya Chase led the Hawks with 14 kills and 16 digs in the victory while Morgan Spencer tallied 13 kills.  Ashley Tutherow and Brianna Smith notched nine and eight kills for Chowan, respectively.  Becca Page totaled 26 assists in the contest while Lindsey Denne added 20.  Cindy Ehrich grabbed 11 digs to aid the effort. 

Kelly Murphy led all players in the contest with 24 kills for Shaw while Keveesha Wattley and Ladazia Burris added 14 and 11 kills, respectively.  Michelle Olmeda-Gonzalez tallied a staggering 54 assists for the Lady Bears while collecting 12 digs.  Tiffany Brooks grabbed 14 digs for Shaw in the setback. 

The Lady Bears and Hawks battled point for point early in the first set until Shaw pulled away 18-14 late in the contest behind a 3-0 run.  A timeout called by Chowan shifted the momentum as the Hawks battled back for a 6-3 run to make the score 21-20.  The Hawks refused to back down and used two service aces, a kill by Chase and a Shaw attack error to regain the lead and pull away 24-21.  A  Lady Bears' service ace gave Shaw an additional point, but a kill by Chase secured the 25-22 win for the Hawks in set one.

Shaw responded by quickly taking a 4-0 lead in the second set.  After grabbing the momentum early, the Lady Bears never looked back, maintaining the lead for the remainder of the set before securing the 25-20 win with a kill by Wattley.  Chowan promptly responded with a 3-0 run of their own to start the third set.  The Hawks never surrendered the lead in set three and used a Shaw service error and back-to-back kills by Chase to earn a convincing 25-20 victory.

In the fourth set, with the score knotted 2-2, Shaw rattled off four consecutive points to pull away 6-2.  The Hawks trailed by three or more points for the remainder of the set before handing the Lady Bears a 25-20 victory, forcing a fifth and final set.

After an early battle in the fifth set, with the score tied 8-8, kills by Tutherow, Spencer and Chase gave Chowan an 11-8 lead.  The Hawks eventually worked their way to a 14-10 advantage before three  consecutive kills by the Lady Bears put Shaw back within  striking distance.  After a quick timeout, the Hawks put the match away with a kill by Michelle Seiler.

Chowan returns to action and begins CIAA Northern Division play on September 24th.  The Hawks travel to Elizabeth City State University to take on the Lady Vikings.  First serve is slated for 6:00pm.