CALIFORNIA, Pa. – The West Liberty University volleyball team opened the final day of the Vulcan Invitational with a convincing 3-1 win against host California (Pa.) inside the Convocation Center here Saturday afternoon.
    Coach Riley Schenk's Hilltoppers (6-4) wound up the tournament with a Saturday split following a 3-0 loss to unbeaten Edinboro (4-0) in their final match of the weekend event.
    West Liberty jumped on the Vulcans (2-4) quickly in the opener, sweeping the first two sets by scores of 25-16 and 25-14, to take control of the match. California pulled out a 25-22 nod in the third set to stay alive but the Hilltoppers rebounded, 25-19, in the fourth set to seal the win.
    Maddie Clayton was a force at the net with 12 kills and 6 blocks. Katelynn Fritz added 8 kills and a dozen digs while Ruby Countryman and Jenna Caskey chimed in with 7 kills each. Countryman also had a career-high 5 blocks.
    Nyia Setla led all players with 19 digs and Kirsten Bogunovich charted a match-high 27 assists.
    The Hilltoppers struggled to get anything going against the Fighting Scots in the late match. Edinboro came from behind to claim a 25-18 win in the opening set and never looked back, closing out the sweep by scores of 25-17 and 25-19.
    Fritz led WLU with 9 kills with Clayton adding six put-aways in the briskly-played match. Setla led all players with 16 digs while Bogunovich chimed in with a team-high 11 assists.
    The West Liberty women return to the friendly confines of the ASRC on Tuesday for a 6 p.m. non-conference match against Malone (Ohio).