INSTITUTE, W.Va. - The West Liberty University volleyball team handed West Virginia State its first loss in Mountain East Conference play with a thrilling five set victory this evening at the Walker Convocation Center. The Hilltoppers dominated play at the net with 20 blocks, the most in a match since joining the MEC in 2013.

West Liberty (15-8, 5-3) started strong out of the gates with an early 7-0 run to go ahead 13-3. West Virginia State (20-2, 7-1) fought back within one (20-19), but West Liberty kept hold of the lead with four straight points and then went on to take the opening set 25-21. The final four points scored by WLU in the first frame all came off blocks, Ruby Countryman had a hand in each one with two solos and two assists.

After the teams went back and forth in the second set up to a 16-15 WVSU lead, the Yellow Jackets rattled off six consecutive points to take control and ended up evening the match with a 25-20 win. More than the allotted 25 points were needed in the third set. West Virginia State fended off set point at 24-23 with two straight scores and went on to take the 2-1 set lead in the match with a 28-26 win.

West Liberty fell behind 12-6 early in the fourth set, but clawed back within a couple points before firing off a 9-0 run to set up set point 24-18. Nyia Setla served the run for WLU and had three aces during it, while Riley Cudnik slammed two kills and then finished the set off at 25-20 with another.

The Hilltoppers scored the first two points of the tiebreak set and never trailed, winning it 15-10. Cudnik made it official with her 18th kill of the night. The 'Topper defense held WVSU to a 0 hitting percentage in the fifth set. The win improves WLU to 2-0 in five set matches on the year.

Cudnik's 18 kills were a season high. She also led the team at the net on defense with nine blocks. Kirsten Bogunovich posted a double-double with 14 kills and 28 assists, while also charting seven blocks. Countryman added 14 kills as well and had eight blocks. Reigning MEC Defensive Player of the Week Nyia Setla collected a match-high 26 digs.

The 20 team blocks were the most by any MEC team in a match this season and the second most in all of Division II behind Wisconsin-Parkside who had 21.

Volleyball returns to the hilltop on Friday night match as Charleston comes to town. First serve is scheduled for 7 pm inside the ASRC.

Follow the Hilltoppers all season online at HilltopperSports.com as well as on Twitter (@WLU_Volleyball | @WLathletics), Instagram (@wlu_volleyball | @wlu_athletics), and Facebook.