WHEELING, W.Va. – The West Liberty University volleyball team closed out its abbreviated spring season here Tuesday with a hard-fought 3-1 loss to defending Mountain East Conference champion Wheeling in an MEC Tournament quarterfinal inside the McDonough Center.
    Coach Riley Schenk's Hilltoppers (7-4), who had dominated the No. 15-ranked Cardinals (9-2) in a regular season finale on Friday, battled the hosts to the wire in the opening set on Tuesday only to see Wheeling pull away late to escape with a 25-21 win.
    West Liberty returned the favor in a tightly-played second set, scoring five of the final six points to knot the match at 1-1 with a 25-20 decision. The Cardinals rebounded impressively in the third set, leading wire to wire in a 25-15 runaway to put the Hilltoppers' backs against the wall.
    With their season on the line, the Black and Gold responded with an extended surge midway through the crucial fourth set to turn an 11-7 deficit into an 18-16 WLU lead. Unfortunately for the visitors, the defending champions rallied to score five of the next six points and went on to close out the match with a 25-22 win.
    Katelynn Fritz had a team-high 16 kills and added 20 digs to finish with a double-double. Maddie Clayton had a strong match, hitting an impressive .458 against the strong Cardinal defense and finishing with a dozen kills. Nina Billotto also hit double figures in kills with 11 finishes.
    Kirsten Bogunovich led the Hilltoppers with 26 assists and also had a double-double with 11 digs. Reigning MEC Defensive Player of the Week Nyia Setla once more paced West Liberty with 29 digs and senior setter Renee Lemke charted 19 assists and 7 digs in her final collegiate match.