FAIRMONT, W.Va. - The West Liberty University volleyball team was edged out by Fairmont State in a five-set marathon match this evening inside Joe Retton Arena.

The Hilltoppers fell behind early, as the Falcons posted a .542 hitting percentage on way to 25-12 opening set victory.

West Liberty battled right back to even the match coming out on top of a back-and-forth second set, 25-23.

Trailing 21-15, the Black and Gold went on a 6-1 run to get within one late in the pivotal set three. The Falcons were able to hold the lead though and set up set point at 24-22. West Liberty won three straight rallies to quickly flip the momentum and go up 25-24. Fairmont State was able to fend off the set point once, but then it was Ruby Countryman slamming back-to-back kills to put the Hilltoppers up 2-1.

The 'Toppers were held to a negative hitting percentage in set four, as the Falcons extended the match to a tiebreak set, 25-15.

Fairmont State got out in front, 12-7, in the fifth frame, but there was no quit from the Hilltoppers. West Liberty rattled off seven of the next eight points to set up match point at 14-13. That would be the first of five match points defended, two by Fairmont and three by WLU. 

Kills and a block by Countryman and Liv McAtee extended the match for West Liberty, but ultimately it was the Falcons winning two straight points to take the game 20-18.

Ashton Wronikowski led the Hilltoppers from the service line accounting for seven of the team's nine aces.

Countryman and Kirsten Bogunovich recorded double-digit kills with 12 and 11, respectively. Bogunovich added 22 assists for her 7th double-double of the season.

Nyia Setla paced the defense with a match-high 27 digs, while Nina Billotto led the front line with five blocks.

West Liberty will wrap up the regular season on Friday night when Wheeling visits the hilltop. First serve is slated for 7 pm.

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