ATHENS, W.V. After losing the first set, the Southern Virginia Volleyball team regrouped and won the next three sets to beat Concord 3-1, and even their season record at 11-11. The Knights fell hard against the Mountain Lions as the first set went the way of the hosts 25-14. A repeat of the last match between the two teams did not look likely.

"We came out dead in the first set," said Head Coach Brian Pendleton. "There was little energy, which is surprising because we warmed up so well. Maybe we thought we had them already because of our win earlier in the season. I knew I needed to challenge them if we were going to come back after the first set."

Come back they did, but it was not easy at first. The Knights battled all through the second set to get a close 25-23 win. The momentum looked to be heading towards the visitor's bench, but Concord fought back in the third. The third set was a pendulum match as SVU jumped to a 19-13 lead, but the hosts pressed, and soon were up 23-20. The Knights then fought to take the match to extra points and eventually won 27-25. The late set heroics took the wind out of the hosts' sails, and they fell in the fourth as SVU put up a relentless attack that gave them the 25-11 set and match victory.

"It was a great sight to see," said Pendleton. "We started very rough, but after they were challenged, they responded like champions. We had to fight them off in the second and third set, but we just turned it up a few more notches for the fourth and you can see what happened. I hope that the ladies see what kind of performance they can put in every night. We have a lot of talent, and it's great to get back to .500 on the season."

The Knights will now look to go over .500 for the first time this season as they travel to play at Emory & Henry College Oct. 9. The game is scheduled for 7:00.