FAIRMONT, W. Va. - After an extended opening set that saw Urbana University fall 28-26, the Blue Knights women's volleyball squad couldn't recover in Friday night's loss at Fairmont State.
UU fell by final set scores of 28-26, 25-18, and 25-20. It's the first time this season that Urbana has fell in three consecutive matches.
Following the setback, Urbana dropped to 11-4 in conference play and 16-12 overall. The Blue Knights slid to third in the league standings heading into tomorrow's regular season finale. West Virginia State improved to 12-3 following a win over West Virginia Wesleyan, but UU could still claim the second seed in the MEC Tournament next week with a win tomorrow and WVSU loss.
Maggie Burns led the Blue Knights with 14 kills with a .258 hitting percentage while
Hannah Delor added 13 kills along with 12 digs.
Courtney Niesen (18) and
Jenna Franks (12) combined for 30 digs. Setter
Anna Davis recorded 33 assists and seven digs.
Urbana produced an overall team hitting percentage of .150 as Fairmont State registered a team mark of .226. Julia DiPoala led the Fighting Falcons with 21 kills and 15 digs.
In the first set, Urbana jumped out to a 10-4 lead following a Delor Kill and led the majority of the frame all the way up to a 22-20 advantage. Fairmont stormed back with four straight points to gain a set-point opportunity, but gutsy kills from Burns and Reinert on back-to-back plays tied it up at 24-24. The teams traded the next four points until DiPaola ended the set with a pair of kills.
Urbana came from behind to grab an 11-9 lead in the second stanza, but it was short-lived as Fairmont responded with another 4-0 run to reclaim the advantage. UU never led again in the set.
The Blue Knights led for a good portion of the third frame as
Hannah Delor's kill put the Blue Knights in front, 17-16. But again, the Fighting Falcons found momentum and closed the match on a 9-3 run.
UP NEXT: Urbana travels to Frostburg State tomorrow for a 1 p.m. match in Frostburg, Maryland. The Blue Knights defeated the Bobcats in straight sets to open conference play back on Sept. 27 in Urbana.
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