WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – A big comeback in the opening set helped the West Liberty University volleyball team cruise to a 3-1 victory against Notre Dame (Ohio) in Friday night's Dig Pink® Match at the ASRC.
    The Dig Pink® movement supports The Side-Out Foundation in its battle against Stage IV breast cancer. All proceeds from Friday night's multiple fundraising activities, including T-shirt sales and a 50-50 drawing, will be donated to the Side-Out Foundation.
    Coach Kayla Mull's Hilltoppers (22-9, 10-5) struggled at the start as the upset-minded Falcons (16-15, 8-7) scored 12 of the first 14 points to take an early double-digit lead. West Liberty cut into the lead but appeared to have run out of time when the score reached 24-18.
    That's when things began to click for the hosts as they fought off six consecutive set points to forge a 24-24 tie and then finished off the 8-point run for a 26-24 win. Stephanie Leonard had 4 kills to account for half of the Hilltoppers' points during the surge.
    Notre Dame rebounded to square the match with a 25-17 win in the second set but WLU regained control with a dominant 25-16 victory in the third set before closing up shop with a 25-22 decision in the fourth set.
    Raimey Benson led the way with 13 kills and 4 blocks while Leonard had a huge match with 10 kills and 7 blocks. Kailee Cunningham posted a double-double with 10 kills and 23 digs while Madison Clayton weighed in with 9 kills and 3 blocks.
    Kendall Souder also had a double-double with 27 assists and 16 digs and Renee Lemke just missed, charting 24 assists to go along with 9 digs. Mackenzie Sims led all players with 33 digs.
    The West Liberty women can clinch at least a share of second place in the Mountain East Conference Saturday morning when they host Urbana in a mutual regular season finale. First serve is set for 11 a.m. at the ASRC.