West Liberty University Athletics

Lady Hilltoppers Fall in MEC Semifinal

Women's Volleyball | 11/18/2016 9:15:00 PM

Box Score WHEELING, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's volleyball team saw one of the best seasons in school history come to an end here Friday night as No. 5-ranked Wheeling Jesuit powered its way to a 3-0 victory in a Mountain East Conference Tournament semifinal at the McDonough Center.
Coach Kayla Mull's Hilltoppers (23-14), who were the only conference team to take a set from the Cardinals (37-2) all year during a regular-season match, couldn't duplicate that feat on Friday.
The nationally-ranked hosts raced off to a 25-11 win in the opening set only to see the Black and Gold rebound in the second set. West Liberty battled WJU down the stretch and trailed just 21-20 after reeling off three straight points.
Unfortunately, the Hilltoppers couldn't sustain the momentum as the Cardinals scored the final four points to take a 25-20 nod and went on to complete the sweep with a 25-15 decision in the final set.
Sydney Scherer had a team-high 5 kills for West Liberty while Amanda Leonard, Stephanie Leonard and Raimey Benson chipped in with 4 each. Miranda Garmenn finished with 13 assists and Kailee Cunningham had 18 digs.
The loss did nothing to dim the luster of the youthful Hilltoppers' first winning season in a quarter-century, dating back to a 15-11 record posted by the 1991 Hilltoppers.
The 23 wins are also the most posted by a WLU squad since West Liberty debuted the sport with back-to-back 26-win seasons in 1981 and 1982.
After six seasons at the helm, Coach Mull already ranks third all-time among Hilltopper coaches with 75 career wins and the future seems even brighter as almost the entire team should be back next fall.
West Liberty loses only one senior from this year's roster and returns no less than five players who earned All-MEC honors in voting by the league coaches prior to the tournament.

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
MEC Tournament
Semifinal
No. 5 Wheeling Jesuit 3, West Liberty 0
(25-11, 25-20, 25-15)
WEST LIBERTY (23-14)
Scherer 5-0-2; Benson 4-0-2; A.Leonard 4-0-2; S.Leonard 4-0-1; Clarke 2-0-0; Sims 2-1-0; Baumhoer 2-0-2; Cunningham 0-1-0; Totals 22-2-6.0
Assists: Garmenn 13
Digs: Cunningham 18
WHEELING JESUIT (37-2)
Graves 11-0-7; Obringer 8-0-1; Schleucher 8-1-3; Kramer 7-0-2; Kindall 7-0-1; Smyth 3-0-0; Thobe 2-0-1; Totals 48-1-8.0
Assists: Thobe 43
Digs: Krucki 21; Kramer 16

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Players Mentioned

#14 Raimey Benson: RS/OH; 6' 1"; Sophomore

#9 Miranda Garmenn: S/DS; 5' 6"; Senior

#7 Amanda Leonard: S/RS; 5' 11"; Sophomore

#4 Stephanie Leonard: MB/OH; 6' 0"; Sophomore

#10 Sydney Scherer: MB; 6' 1"; Junior

#11 Kailee Cunningham: OH/DS; 5' 9"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#14 Raimey Benson
: 6' 1"; Sophomore
: RS/OH

#9 Miranda Garmenn
: 5' 6"; Senior
: S/DS

#7 Amanda Leonard
: 5' 11"; Sophomore
: S/RS

#4 Stephanie Leonard
: 6' 0"; Sophomore
: MB/OH

#10 Sydney Scherer
: 6' 1"; Junior
: MB

#11 Kailee Cunningham
: 5' 9"; Freshman
: OH/DS