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WLU Volleyball Rolls in MEC Tournament Opener

Box Score     INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The West Liberty University volleyball team opened the Mountain East Conference Tournament with an impressive 3-0 quarterfinal sweep of Davis & Elkins Thursday afternoon inside the Walker Center on the campus of West Virginia State University.
    Coach Riley Schenk's regionally-ranked Hilltoppers (21-12) wasted no time taking care of business against the Senators (14-14), opening the match with a convincing 25-20 first-set win and following up with 25-18 and 25-13 verdicts to complete the sweep.
    "We really talked about focusing on our side," Schenk said. "No matter what (Davis & Elkins) were going to put out there, we wanted to focus on us and excel in the things we are good at doing. I thought we came out and did that."
    Senior middle blocker Maddie Clayton set the pace for the Black and Gold with a dozen kills, 5 blocks and 4 service aces while hitting at a .407 clip. Kirsten Bogunovich just missed a double-double with 9 kills and a match-high 23 assists while Riley Cudnik and Ruby Countryman were each charted with 7 kills and combined for 7 blocks.
    Sophomore libero Nyia Setla finished with 18 digs and a pair of aces.
    "We had a really good game plan from Coach and I thought we executed the scouting report well," said Clayton, a 3-time first-team All-MEC selection. "We wanted to focus on our touches, having clean nice touches on our side because that's the only thing we can control. I think we did a great job of that which allowed us to come together and pull out the win."
    West Liberty advances to Friday night's 7:30 p.m. semifinal against defending MEC Tournament champion Wheeling (25-5) in a battle of regionally-ranked squads. The Hilltoppers checked in at No. 10 in the latest NCAA Division II Atlantic Region rankings while the Cardinals remained locked in at No. 1.
    Schenk says the Black and Gold are looking forward to the challenge.
    "We were really excited with our side of the bracket, getting to play the early match on Thursday," Schenk said. "I have a really good group this year with really good leadership and then I have some spunky young ones that are ready to go. We're really excited to be here in this atmosphere and keep it rolling. I know they're not ready to be done playing yet and neither am I."

 
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