Women's Volleyball | 11/13/2014 4:52:00 PM
Box Score WHEELING, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's volleyball team threw a major scare into regionally-ranked Fairmont State Thursday afternoon before coming out on the short end of a 3-2 thriller in an MEC Tournament quarterfinal at Wheeling Jesuit's McDonough Center.
Coach
Kayla Fetsko's Hilltoppers (11-19) were the No. 7 seed in the eight-team tournament and had lost both regular-season matches to the No. 2-seeded Falcons (23-6) but that's not how
Thursday's quarterfinal played out.
Fairmont, No. 10 in last week's Atlantic Region rankings, waltzed to a 25-14 win in the opening set but West Liberty fought off a set point and scored the final three points of the second set to even the match with a 26-24 decision.
The Falcons grabbed the upper hand again with a 25-19 nod in the third set but once more the Hilltoppers rebounded, winning the fourth set by a 25-22 margin to force a winner-take-all fifth set.
That's where West Liberty's upset attempt finally ran out of gas. The Hilltoppers had battled to a 6-6 tie midway through the fifth set only to see Fairmont reel off 9 of the next 10 points to escape with the victory.
VOLLEYBALL
MEC TOURNAMENT
Quarterfinals
No. 2 Fairmont State 3, No. 7 West Liberty 2
(25-14, 24-26, 25-19, 22-25, 15-7)
WEST LIBERTY (11-19)
FAIRMONT STATE (23-6)
Mackenzie Harrison19-0-5; Erin Harwood 16-0-1; Kaitlyn Witsaman 15-0-1; Courtney Kress 13-0-4; Meredith Ruetty 6-2-4; Tabbie Bias 2-3-1. Totals 71-6-9.0.
Assists: Tabbie Bias 57
Digs: Tiff Smathers 21, Erin Harwood 20, Mackenzie Harrison 18, Kaitlyn Witsman 17, Tabbie Bias 11
