NCWC volleyball drops season opener at Chowan, 3-1

Murfreesboro, NC - North Carolina Wesleyan's volleyball squad dropped its 2009 season opener on Tuesday evening, falling to Chowan University by a 3-1 score on the road.  Game scores were 25-21, 25-13, 22-25, and 25-22.  Sophomore Holly Deaver and freshman Erin Augspurger turned in solid performances for the Battling Bishops, combining for 15 kills against just one error in 28 attempts at the net.

The Hawks raced out to a 2-0 match lead with key wins in the first two sets. The Bishops recorded negative hitting percentages in both games, while Chowan tallied 10 more total kills during that span.

Wesleyan looked to erase its opening match jitters in the third set, rebounding for a 25-22 win behind a solid .370 performance at the net.  Hoping to force a fifth and deciding game, NCWC forged an 18-14 advantage in set four only to see the Hawks go on an 8-1 run to take a 22-19 lead.  Deaver snapped the streak with her career-high eighth kill of the night, but it CU went on to close out the match on a Bishop serving error and two kills by Victoria Lewis.

Senior Brittany Insley paced Wesleyan with a team-high nine kills to go along with 10 digs.  Junior libero Kelly George added 12 digs, while sophomore Mackenzie Tingle tallied 34 assists. Deaver and Augspurger had eight and seven kills, respectively.

For Chowan (4-1), Karina Monroe notched a game-high 15 kills, and Tiffany Chambers had 16 digs.

NCWC (0-1) returns to action this Friday and Saturday when the Bishops travel to Eastern Mennonite University's annual tournament. NCWC kicks off play at 3:00 p.m. on Friday versus Catholic University.