Hawks Take Two on Opening Day of CIAA Round-Up
The Chowan University volleyball team kicked-off CIAA play on Saturday with two crossover wins against Saint Augustine's University and Fayetteville State University in the opening day of the CIAA Round-Up. The Hawks even their record to 3-3 overall with the victories and post a 2-0 record in conference play. Chowan blanked Saint Augustine's University 3-0 in their first match of the day before defeating the Lady Broncos of Fayetteville State University 3-0.
The Hawks topped the Lady Falcons 25-18, 25-15 and 25-18 to get the momentum rolling on Saturday. Suraya Chase and Brianna Smith each tallied a team-high eight kills in the match followed by Morgan Spencer with seven kills and Ashley Tutherow with six kills. Lindsey Denne and Becca Page each dished out 16 assists in the win while Cindy Ehrich hauled in 14 digs. Alyssa Born notched 13 digs to aid the effort for the Chowan Blue and White.
Olivia Porter and Shakira Hall paced the Lady Falcons with eight kills apiece in the setback. Juliseea Thomas had 20 assists in the setback while Zoey Isom accounted for 15 digs for Saint Augustine's University.
With the score tied 7-7 early in the first set, Chowan answered with five unanswered points to pull away 12-7. The Hawks took the momentum and ran with it, maintaining the lead for the remainder of the set before clinching the 25-18 win with a kill by Chase. In set two, the Hawks grabbed a quick 6-1 lead behind Born's serves and never looked back. Chowan maintained a lead of four or more points for the remainder of the set before earning the 25-18 win. In the third set, the Hawks rolled to a quick 25-18 victory highlighted by a 5-0 run midway through the set.
The Hawks continued the momentum into their final match of the day, blanking the Lady Broncos 3-0. Spencer powered the Hawks with 12 kills against Fayetteville State with Page tallying 20 assists. Three Hawks tallied double-digit digs in the victory led by Born with 18, followed by Chase and Ehrich with 15 digs apiece.
Brittany McCoy tallied a team-high 12 kills in the contest for Fayetteville State University followed by Shavon Shaw with 10 kills. Ashley Smith and Jessica Hardy accounted for 15 and 11 assists, respectively, while Nikita Cheadle hauled in a match-high 24 digs. Shavon Shaw followed with 15 digs.
Chowan topped the Lady Broncos 25-15, 27-25 and 25-21 to earn the 3-0 victory.
In the first set, with the score tied 3-3, a kill by Spencer followed by a Lady Bronco attack error put the Hawks ahead 5-3. Chowan maintained the lead for the remainder of the set before a kill by Spencer and two Fayetteville State errors resulted in a 25-15 opening set win for the Hawks.
The second set was closely contested but Chowan overcame 10 ties to earn the hard fought victory. With the score tied 24-24, a kill by Ashley Britton for Fayetteville State gave the Lady Broncos the advantage. The Hawks took advantage of an attack error on the next play and used back-to-back kills by Tutherow to earn the 27-25 victory.
The third set was all about the Hawks as Chowan quickly took control of the momentum. After trailing 3-0 at the start of the set, a kill by Spencer sparked a 7-0 run for the Hawks with six points earned behind Born's serves. The Hawks held on to the advantage and never looked back, securing the 25-21 victory with an attack error by the Lady Broncos.
Chowan concludes play at the CIAA Round-Up on Sunday. The Hawks take on Shaw University at 11:00am on the Lady Bears' campus.