Box Score Institute, W.Va- Charleston Women's Volleyball opened their Mountain East Conference Tournament with a win over #2 seed Fairmont State on Thursday evening. The match would be an absolute thriller as the Golden Eagles went to five sets and defeated Fairmont after making a miraculous comeback.
The Basics
Location: Institute W.Va – Walker Convocation Center
Score: UC 3 FSU 2
Records: Charleston (22-10, 10-6 MEC) Fairmont (21-10, 11-5 MEC)
How it Happened
The match would go a full five sets with back-and-forth action all night. The outside from Utah Sage Bearnson had a career night, collecting 34 kills throughout the five-set affair.
The first set began with the Golden Eagles scoring four straight points to open the match. They would go on to take control of the set after back-to-back kills by Kenzie Carpenter and Sage Bearnson to give the Golden Eagles a 23-17 lead. After a few points by Fairmont, the Golden Eagles would finish the set with a kill by Ally Fisher, winning 25-23.
The second set was controlled by Fairmont from the start. The difference came after the score was 13-12 Charleston and Fairmont went on a 13-6 run to finish the set. The score finished 25-19 Fairmont on top.
The third set was arguably the most exciting of the night as the Golden Eagles and Fairmont would battle it out for control of the match. Charleston eventually would take the set after an intense battle toward the end. A big point came when Sage Bearnson went up for a kill and was blocked by a Fairmont defender. The ball went straight off her head and landed in the middle of the Fairmont defense for a Charleston point. Charleston came out on top after a kill by Jenae Thomas and an attack error by Fairmont's Lilianna Keber.
The fourth set was completely controlled by the Fighting Falcons. The Golden Eagles were up 14-10 when Fairmont went on a 10-point run to make it 19-14. Fairmont would go on win by a score of 25-19 to force a decisive fifth set.
The fifth set was extremely intense affair as the Falcons took a commanding 9-4 lead, just needing six points to move on to the semi-final vs West Virginia State. Charleston would not go down quietly and took five points in a row to tie the score at nine. From there two kills in a row by Sage Bearnson would give the Golden Eagles a 11-10 lead. Amelia Moore sent a ball past the UC defense and tied the score at 11. Charleston would lock in for the final four points and take the set 15-11 on kills by Sage Bearnson, Jenae Thomas and a few attack errors by the Falcons.
Sage Bearnson had a career day, collecting 34 kills in the match, a Mountain East Conference Tournament Record. The powerful hitting Jenae Thomas earned herself 19 kills at a .302 clip as she powered the Golden Eagles to victory. Maria Hernandez had an outstanding 64 assists in the match while Madison Jackson and McKenzie Damon led the way on defense, accounting for 30 and 27 digs respectively.
Up Next
Charleston will take on the top seeded West Virginia State at 5 PM on Friday evening in hopes of earning a spot in the championship finale.
