Women's Volleyball | 10/28/2011 9:42:00 PM

WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University volleyball team battled a strong Shepherd squad for nearly two hours Friday night before coming out on the short end of a 3-1 decision on Senior Night at the ASRC.
    The Rams (15-13, 8-4), who are battling for one of the four first-round byes in next month's WVIAC Tournament, handed the Hilltoppers (8-16, 3-10) a 25-19 loss in Friday's opening game but West Liberty bounced right back with a 25-19 victory of its own in Game Two.
    Momentum swung back and forth for the rest of the evening but Shepherd came up with enough big hits down the stretch to close out the match with 25-22 and 25-19 decisions.
    Emily Mellie led the Hilltoppers with 10 kills and 4 blocks while Anne Edwards added 9 kills and a block. Chelsea Byrge and Gabbie Davis finished with 17 and 14 assists, respectively, while Jennifer Torrence cracked double-figures with 11 digs.
    West Liberty returns to the ASRC boards on Saturday morning with a 10:30 a.m. match against Concord.
 
VOLLEYBALL
Shepherd 3, West Liberty 1
(25-19, 19-25, 25-22, 25-19)
SHEPHERD (15-13, 8-4)
    Kasey Mercier 12-0-4; Melani Lewis 10-0-5; Lauren Gardner 8-2-0; Meg Kenny 8-0-3; Sara Michael 6-1-0; Lauren Jeschelnik 4-0-2; Totals 48-3-8.0.
    Assists – Lauren Jeschelnik 36.
    Digs – Lauren Gardner 10; Kasey Mercier 9
WEST LIBERTY (8-16, 3-10)
    Emily Mellie 10-0-4; Anne Edwards 9-0-1; Melissa Pierzchala 7-0-0; Chelsea Byrge 6-0-0; Rachel Ziegler 5-0-1; Michaela Hawkins 2-0-1; Alexandra Kowalski 1-0-1; Gabbie Davis 1-0-0; Haylee Strause 0-1-0; Jennifer Torrence 0-1-0; Totals 41-2-5.0.
    Assists – Chelsea Byrge 17; Gabbie Davis 14.
    Digs – Jennifer Torrence 11; Haylee Strause 9; Gabbie Davis 8