Camels fall in five sets at NC Central

Box Score Durham, NC - Campbell fell to NC Central in five sets Tuesday night in Durham. The Fighting Camels took the first two sets before the Eagles stormed back to win three straight and claim their first victory of the year.

The loss drops Campbell to 2-7 while NCCU gets in the win column now at 1-6. It was Campbell's first loss to NCCU since 2007, having won 15 straight.

Hitting percentages were nearly even for the night with the Eagles holding a slight edge at .205 to .203, but 14 service errors cost the Camels on the evening. On the opposite service line, the Eagles had plenty of success with 11 aces, the most allowed by Campbell this season.

Chloe Cook logged six kills in the first set as Campbell found the rhythm late in a 25-20 win. After a called timeout trailing 19-18, Campbell reeled off a 7-1 run fueled by four of Cook's six kills in the first.

The second set hung in the balance even later tied at 24-24 but Campbell closed things with a bang. Gwen Wolkow rocketed one to the hardwood to go up by one before teaming up with fellow freshman Aley Clent for a big block to put the Camels up 2-0 in the match.

NCCU didn't allow the set to be close in the third, jumping out to a quick 10-1 lead and cruising to a 25-15 win by holding the Camels to hitting .079. The Eagles were highly efficient in the third themselves, committing only one error and hitting .387.

It was more of the same in the fourth with NCCU taking an early lead and controlling the set the whole way. Both teams hit over .300 in the frame, but the Eagles collected four aces against a handful of Campbell service errors to push the match to a deciding set.

It looked like NCCU would run away with the fifth set as well, but a resilient Campbell effort held off seven straight match points to take it from 14-7 to 14-14. But Campbell couldn't quite finish the job and ultimately fell 17-15 in the final frame.

Wolkow notched a new season-high with 15 kills to lead the offense while Cook and Lailah Green joined her in double figures with 11. Green also logged a double-double adding 10 digs. Claranne Fechter paced the defense with 19 digs on the evening.

Campbell now faces the long-awaited home opener Friday at 6 p.m. against Robert Morris as part of the Campbell Invitational. The Camels will then get another shot at NC Central on Saturday in the first leg of a doubleheader with The Citadel.

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Players Mentioned

#17 Lailah Green: OH; 5' 10"; Freshman; Bakersfield Volleyball Club

#3 Chloe Cook: OH; 5' 9"; Junior; TAV Houston

#1 Claranne Fechter: DS; 5' 9"; Junior; Mintonette Sports Volleyball Club

#22 Aley Clent: MB; 6' 5"; Freshman

#18 Gwen Wolkow: OH; 6' 0"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#17 Lailah Green
: 5' 10"; Freshman; Bakersfield Volleyball Club
: OH

#3 Chloe Cook
: 5' 9"; Junior; TAV Houston
: OH

#1 Claranne Fechter
: 5' 9"; Junior; Mintonette Sports Volleyball Club
: DS

#22 Aley Clent
: 6' 5"; Freshman
: MB

#18 Gwen Wolkow
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: OH