Women's Volleyball | 10/23/2010 9:22:44 PM
The West Liberty University volleyball team snapped a 10-match losing streak in impressive fashion this weekend, going on the road to beat Bluefield State and Concord on back-to-back days.
Coach Brooke Turner's Hilltoppers blasted the Big Blues, 3-0, on Friday night in Bluefield before taking the short drive to Athens on Saturday and rallying to a 3-2 win against the Mountain Lions.
West Liberty (10-15, 4-7) was never challenged in Bluefield, sweeping the three games by scores of 25-8, 25-12 and 25-9. Emily Mellie had 10 kills and 8 blocks while Rachel Ziegler added 8 kills for the Hilltoppers. Brittany Albanese and Abby McCreery had 16 and 13 assists, respectively, while Jennifer Torrence and Mo Pierzchala tied for the team lead with 6 digs each.
The Black-and-Gold came from behind to pull out the win at Concord on Saturday. The host Mountain Lions won two of the first three games only to see West Liberty knot the match with a 25-20 win in Game Four before dominating the tiebreaker set by a 15-6 count.
Anne Edwards led the Hilltoppers with 16 kills and 8 blocks while Ziegler and Mellie added 14 and 10 kills, respectively. McCreery had 24 assists and Albanese weighed in with 18 assists and 8 digs. Torrence had a match-high 27 digs while Pierzchala, who had 9 kills, just missed a double-double wih 14 digs.
West Liberty is back on the road Thursday night with a 7 p.m. match at Alderson-Broaddus.
VOLLEYBALL
West Liberty 3, Bluefield State 0
(25-8, 25-12, 25-9)
WEST LIBERTY (9-15, 3-7)
Abby McCreery 0-1-0; Rachel Ziegler 8-1-1; Amie Riethmiller 4-0-2; Melissa Pierzchala 6-2-1; Mekenzie Gray 1-0-0; Alexandra Kowalski 3-0-1; Rainelle Dunlevy 1-0-0; Haylee Strause 0-2-0; Sarah Mathias 1-0-3; Brittany Albanese 1-0-0; Emily Mellie 10-0-8; Anne Edwards 8-0-2. Totals 43-6-16.0
Assists – Brittany Albanese 16; Abby McCreery 13
Digs – Jennifer Torrence 6; Melissa Pierzchala 6
BLUEFIELD STATE (1-21, 0-8)
Kiara Watkins 9-0-0; Brittney Muncy 4-0-0; Annie Conklin 2-1-0; Brittany Cook 2-0-0; Caitlin Russell 2-0-0. Totals 19-1-0.0
Assists – Krista Motley 9
Digs – Kiara Watkins 12; Annie Conklin 11.
West Liberty 3, Concord 2
(25-21, 17-25, 20-25, 25-20, 15-6)
WEST LIBERTY (10-15, 4-7)
Anne Edwards 16-0-8; Rachel Zeigler 14-0-2; Emily Mellie 10-1-4; Melissa Pierzchala 9-0-2; Amie Riethmiller 5-0-3; Sarah Mathias 3-0-4; Brittany Albanese 2-1-0; Totals 59-2-13.5.
Assists – Abby McCreery 24; Brittany Albanese 18.
Digs – Jennifer Torrence 27; Melissa Pierzchala 14; Brittany Albanese 8
CONCORD (8-18, 3-5)
Amber Miller 18-0-2; Emily Wilson 11-1-1; Kayla Martin 7-0-1; Rebecca Lovejoy 6-0-0; Tori Fornadel 6-0-1; Helen Theisen 3-0-2; Allie Pennington 0-2-0; Totals 51-3-6.0.
Assists – Helen Theisen 39; Emily Wilson 14.
Digs – Allie Pennington 6; Erin Asbury 2
