BOX SCORE

Abilene, Texas – Shelbi Chipman and Kalynn White each registered a double-double of the kills-digs variety in leading the Concordia University Texas volleyball team to a 3-2 victory (25-17, 24-26, 25-19, 22-25, 15-8) over Mississippi College on Friday, Sept. 30 at McMurry's Kimbrell Arena. The game, which featured 25 ties and 14 lead swings, was part of the American Southwest Conference Dig Pink Crossover Challenge.

Concordia (7-6, ASC 3-4) triumphed in a back-and-forth opening set that featured 10 ties and seven lead changes. The teams were within a point of each other until a Tornado attack error made it 7-5 in favor of the Choctaws. Trailing 15-13, Concordia was able to rattle off nine unanswered to take control and never look back with Chipman, Amanda Affolter and Alison Pringle combining for four straight kills during the stretch. Emma Clifford factored into the final two points with a kill and solo block to give her team the 25-17 set win.

Mississippi College (6-10, ASC 3-4) was able to answer back and even the score by edging Concordia, 26-24, in a competitive second set. Bianca Martinez assisted on four Tornado points to give her team an early 6-3 advantage, but the Choctaws responded with five straight points to regain the lead. Concordia hung around and went on top again by scoring four points to make it 21-19, which was capped by a White kill. But following a Mississippi College timeout, the Choctaws added four points in a row to go ahead by two. Lauryn Hamrick broke a 24-all tie by setting up teammates Rachel Farmer and Corutney Creamer for kills to ice the set victory.

The Tornados never trailed in the third set en route to pulling out a 25-19 win to take control. A kill by White followed by two more from Affolter made it 5-2 and put Concordia ahead for good. A combined block by Stacy Manship and White gave the Tornados their largest lead at 14-7, but the Choctaws stormed back and closed the score to 17-15 to force their opponent to call a timeout. Kills by four different Tornados, however, allowed the  squad to prevail by six in the set.

In an attempt to end the match, Concordia scored the first two points and never surrendered the lead until Rachel Janssen and Nicole Horton combined for a block on a Chipman attack that put the Choctaws ahead by a 17-16 score. Mississippi College would never surrender the lead again and won the set, 25-22, on a Tornado attacking error to force a fifth and deciding final frame.

Concordia, which entered the evening with an 0-3 ledger in five-set matches, was able to prevail by forcing Mississippi College to a .000 hitting percentage the rest of the way. The Tornados scored the first four points and seven of the first eight to pull out the 15-8 win. Two consecutive Choctaw attacking errors allowed the Tornados to balloon their lead to 11-2 before a Clifford kill off a feed from Samantha Ladewig on match point sealed the final outcome.

Chipman led the Tornados with 14 kills and 14 digs, while White added 12 kills and 12 digs to go along with six blocks to also help in the winning effort. Bianca Martinez and Samantha Ladewig finished with 28 and 22 assists, respectively, and Kevyn Jackson contributed 34 digs. Pringle registered nine kills and a match-high seven blocks.

Mississippi College was paced by the double-double performances of Creamer and Hamrick. Creamer posted 11 kills and 11 digs, while Hamrick had 25 assists and 10 digs. Farmer finished with 13 kills and Lindsey Scallan had 14 digs in the loss.

Concordia will face two more ASC East Division opponents at McMurry tomorrow afternoon, beginning with a 10 a.m. match against Centenary. The Tornados will also face East Texas Baptist at 4:30 p.m.

Note: Concordia's men's and women's soccer teams and volleyball squad combined to post a 3-0 ledger on the same day for the first time in school history ... The men's and women's soccer teams earned identical 2-0 road victories over Texas Lutheran in Seguin.
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Concordia (7-6, ASC 3-4) def. Mississippi College (6-10, ASC 3-4), 3-2 (25-17, 24-26, 25-19, 22-25, 15-8)