BUCKHANNON, W.Va. — The West Virginia Wesleyan volleyball team (1-9, 1-1 Mountain East Conference) was victorious in its home opener of the fall season over Concord (3-7, 0-2 MEC) on Friday (Oct. 1) at the Rockefeller Center.
 
WVWC Leaders
Three Bobcats notched double-digit kill totals, with Hope Arce-Reed leading the way with 12. Lexis Tatum finished 11 kills and Makenzie Yates contributed 10 kills. Joelle Lalla totaled eight kills, while Anaya Hyman added seven kills for Wesleyan. Payton Hefner (31) and Maddi Carpenter (17) each distributed an individual season-high total in the assist category. The Bobcats hammered 13 service aces, with Hefner tallying a career-high five aces in a single match. Kennedy Kuhns (3), Carpenter (2) and Yates (2) each accumulated double-digit service ace totals.
 
Autumn Molenhouse was the WVWC digs leader with 21. Tatum earned 12 digs and Yates totaled 11 digs. At the net, Lalla recorded her third block solo of the season and finished with four block assists. Milan Reynolds tallied two block solos and a block assist. Tatum added three block assists to her stat sheet.
 
Concord Leaders
Hannah Steele led the Mountain Lions with 14 kills. Imani Rodgers distributed 34 assists. Peyton Wiseman was the lone Concord player to record a service ace.
 
Libero Kelli Ellison was the leader in the dig category for CU with 14. Rodgers added 13 digs. Sheridan Herron had seven block assists while Stelle ended with six block assists.
 
Inside Set One
With the Bobcats down 4-3, Carpenter smashed two consecutive aces to give Wesleyan a one-point advantage. A Mountain Lion attack error increased the Bobcat lead to 6-4. Concord won six out of the next eight points to take a 10-8 lead. Wesleyan clawed back to tie the match at 11 thanks to a Hyman kill and a CU attack error. Two consecutive attack errors from Concord gave the Orange and Black a 14-12 advantage.
 
The Mountain Lions cut the deficit to one, but a kill from Lalla made the score 15-13. Arce-Reed connected on her third kill of the set to put Wesleyan ahead 17-14. CU came back to tie the set at 18. With the score deadlocked at 19, Wesleyan won the next two points off a Mountain Lions’ attack error and a service ace from Hefner. Concord cut the Wesleyan lead to one point three separate times down the stretch. The ‘Cats hung on and took set one 25-23.
 
Inside Set Two
Concord won 16 of the first 20 points in the second set. WVWC responded and went on a 10-1 run to trim the deficit to 17-14 in favor of Concord. Kuhns put Wesleyan within two points of Concord after a service ace. Concord closed out the second set and won 25-18.
 
Inside Set Three
The Bobcats trailed 9-7 when Carpenter hit a sneak-attack kill to cut the Concord lead to one point. A kill from Hyman tied set three at nine. Wesleyan took the lead after an attack error from CU. Yates finished a kill to put the ‘Cats up two. Hefner’s third service ace of the night gave Wesleyan a 12-9 lead and forced a Concord timeout.
 
The Mountain Lions tied the set at 16. A kill from Arce-Reed and a service ace from Tatum gave Wesleyan a two-point cushion. Concord tied the set at 19. Yates blasted a crucial kill to give WVWC a 20-19 lead. The ‘Cats won the next five decisions and finished the third set on a 6-0 run. Hefner smashed her fourth and fifth aces of the night in the run to end the set. WVWC bounced back and won set three 25-19.
 
Inside Set Four
Wesleyan kept the momentum going from the third set and jumped out to a 4-0 lead. The Bobcats increased their lead to 11-6 after Kuhns’ second service ace of the night. CU went on a 5-0 run to tie set four at 11. 
 
With Wesleyan down one, Tatum collected her 11th kill of the night to tie the fourth set at 16. Arce-Reed delivered her 12th kill of the match to put Wesleyan up 18-17. The Bobcats won the next two points thanks to kills from Carpenter and Yates. 
 
Concord won the next point and trailed Wesleyan by two. Yates’ 10th kill of the match put WVWC up 21-18. On the next point, Reynolds delivered a solo block to give the Bobcats a four-point advantage. Reynolds came up clutch on the next point and smashed a kill to extend the WVWC lead to 23-18. Kuhns’ third ace of the night forced match point for the Bobcats. Reynolds ended the match with her second block solo of the evening and gave the Bobcats a 25-19 set four victory.
 
Up Next
Wesleyan will be back at Rockefeller Center tomorrow (Saturday, Oct. 2) for a non-conference match versus Seton Hill. First serve is scheduled for 1 p.m.