WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University volleyball team served for the match on three separate occasions here Thursday night only to see Urbana rally for a 3-2 come-from-behind win in a key Mountain East Conference match at the ASRC.
Coach
Kayla Mull's Hilltoppers (9-10, 1-2) stumbled out of the gate with a 25-14 loss to the Blue Knights (8-7, 4-0) in a sloppily played opening set but Mull's troops stormed back to take control of the match with dominant 25-15 and 25-11 blowout wins in the second and third sets.
The fourth set went down to the wire and beyond with each team fighting off multiple set points before Urbana finally ended the marathon by pulling out a 32-30 decision. The Blue Knights kept right on rolling in the fifth and final set, jumping out to a 9-3 lead and never looking back in coasting to a 15-10 victory.
Olivia Baumhoer and
Morgan Farley led the Black and Gold at the net. Baumhoer was charted with 13 kills and 4 blocks while Farley finished with 11 winners and 5 blocks. Freshman
Kirsten Bogunovich just missed a rare triple-double with 28 assists, a dozen digs and 8 kills.
Kendall Souder had a double-double with 16 assists and 18 digs in a losing cause while
Mackenzie Sims added 9 kills and 13 digs. Senior
Kailee Cunningham led all players with 36 kills.
The West Liberty women will try to get back on track Friday night when they host Notre Dame (Ohio) in another match with major early-season MEC implications. First serve in the annual "Dig Pink" match is set for 6 p.m.
