ATHENS, W.V. – Another 2-0 day on Saturday sent the UWG volleyball team south from West Virginia with a perfect 4-0 record this weekend, winning every game in the Concord Classic.
 
The Wolves (5-2) took the first match of the day in straight sets, 3-0, over host Concord, before falling beind 2-0 in the finale, but head coach Kara Hellmann's team fought back to defeat Indiana (PA) in five sets.
 
"We took a big step forward this weekend," said Hellmann. "I'm really pleased to see the improvement from last weekend to this weekend not just in terms of results but in how our team is coming together."
 
The marathon, five-set victory over IUP gave the Wolves their third four-match win streak under Hellmann and the first of 2022.
 
"In the final match, we stayed focused on our culture and playing our brand of volleyball and were able to grind throughout that entire match," Hellmann added. "This was a great team win for our program."
 
Match One – UWG 3, Concord 0
After a tight first set the Wolves rolled to win in the early match, hitting .337 for the match and racked up 11 service aces, the most by the Wolves in a three-set match since getting 17 against Clark Atlanta in September of 2019.
 
In the opening set, a pair of freshmen in Isabel Steffel and Sarah Pipping led the way, combining for eight kills. It was back-and forth until West Georgia began to pull away and grabbed a 22-19 lead, but Concord went on a run and took a 23-22 lead. From there though, Steffel and Pipping got kills sandwiched around one of those 11 service aces to take the 1-0 lead in the match.
 
West Georgia hit a blistering .407 in the second set and had six service aces as the Wolves rolled to a 25-12 victory. The Wolves backed that up hitting .370 in the final set to win it 25-17 to win their third straight match in 3-0 fashion.
 
Pipping finished the match with 11 kills while Steffel finished with six. Another freshman, Sanai Young, had an extremely productive performance, hitting .750 with nine kills and zero attack errors.
 
Sydney Blackmon led the way on the back row, with a match-high 15 digs. Autumn Mayes put up 34 assists to lead all players.
 
Match Two
IUP ended UWG's nine set winning streak, by taking the first set 25-20. West Georgia held a slim 10-9 lead before a 5-0 run gave the Crimson Hawks a 14-10 lead and forced a UWG timeout. From there, IUP stayed comfortably ahead to win the opening set, 25-20.
 
Despite the Wolves' effort in set number two, IUP took a 2-0 lead with a 25-21 victory in the second, pushing UWG's back against the wall.
 
But the Wolves responded by hitting .240 in the third and holding the Crimson Hawks to just a .083 hitting percentage. That along with four service aces and three blocks at the net helped propel UWG to a 25-16 victory.
 
West Georgia evened things up at 2-2 with a dramatic 26-24 win in set four. UWG led for the majority of the set until IUP pulled away 22-16, but again the Wolves fought back with five straight to make it a 22-21 deficit. With IUP leading 24-23, the Wolves forced three errors to come from behind and force a fifth set.
 
In the decisive fifth, the two teams traded blows early until IUP got a two-point lead at 10-8. UWG got three straight points thanks to Emilee Harris and Marley Staats to gain an 11-10 lead.
 
IUP then went back on top 13-12 and then the Wolves slammed the door Staats tied it up, Pipping gave the Wolves the lead, and a Crimson Hawk error ended the match with the Wolves getting a fifth win of the season.
 
Harris led the offensive attack with 17 kills and a .293 hitting percentage. Staats also had double-digit kills with a career-high 11.
 
Blackmon and Mayes combined for 27 digs with Mayes leading the way with 35 assists. Freshman Sanai Young had a big game at the net, registering a career-high seven blocks.
 
Next Up
The Wolves now return home and are set to take on Division III power Emory in the 2022 home opener. First serve for Tuesday, September 6 at 7 p.m.