CALIFORNIA, Pa. – Kailee Cunningham recorded her 2,000th career dig and the West Liberty University volleyball team swept its first two matches on Friday in the Vulcan Invitational at historic Hamer Hall on the campus of California (Pa.) University.
    Coach Kayla Mull's Hilltoppers (3-3) came from behind to hand Daemen (N.Y.) a 3-2 loss in a mutual tournament opener before rolling to a 3-0 shutout of Lake Erie (Ohio) in their second match of the day.
    Cunningham, a senior outside hitter/libero from Independence, Ohio, blew past the 2,000-dig milestone in the first set of the opening match and finished the day with 2,034 career digs. She is rapidly closing in on the school record of 2,155 career digs posted by Courtney Pyeritz from 2012-15.
    The Black and Gold came up big in the opening match against Daemen as the Wildcats were just two points from victory after opening up a 13-9 lead in the fifth set only to see the Hilltoppers come roaring back. Keyed by back-to-back kills from freshman Kirsten Bogunovich, WLU reeled off six straight points to take a 15-13 nod and earn the win.
    Another freshman, Alissa Dickson, had a double-double with 14 kills and a dozen digs to lead the way. Madison Clayton and Caitlin Clarke also posted double-digit kills with 11 and 10 winners, respectively, while Cunningham led all players with 27 digs and Renee Lemke contributed a match-high 27 assists.
    West Liberty provided a drama-free experience for their fans in the Lake Erie match, sweeping the Storm (1-4) by scores of 25-14, 25-17 and 25-23 in a dominating performance.
    Dickson continued her strong early-season play with a match-high 15 kills while Bogunovich stuffed the stat sheet with 5 kills, a match-high 20 assists and 7 digs. Olivia Baumhoer and Clayton added 8 and 7 kills, respectively, while Lemke weighed in with 18 assists.
    Jo Lyn Jurek had 16 digs and Cunningham added a dozen more as the Hilltoppers got back to the .500 mark.
    West Liberty closes out the Vulcan Invitational on Saturday with matches against host California (Pa.) and Indiana (Pa.).