CHARLESTON, W.Va. - The West Liberty University volleyball team secured a spot in the Mountain East Conference Tournament semifinals for the second straight year and fifth time in program history after a quarterfinal sweep of the two-seed from the south division West Virginia State.

The first set brought back memories of the regular season match between the squads, a five-set Hilltopper win, as it featured 10 lead changes and needed more than the allotted 25 points to decide a winner. Late in the set, West Liberty got ahead by three (22-19), the largest lead by either side in the set. The Yellow Jackets stung right back winning five of the next six points to set up set point. In a quick turn of events, Kirsten Bogunovich made a kill and tag-teamed a block with Ruby Countryman to flip the scoreboard and create set point for the Hilltoppers. West Virginia State could not get it over the net the following rally and West Liberty prevailed in the opener, 26-24.

The Hilltoppers turned it up a notch after set one and never looked back. They surged ahead 13-4 early in the second and cruised to the 2-0 lead. The Yellow Jackets crept back within five (18-13), but seven of the next 10 rallies went to West Liberty to finish it 25-16. WLU committed just one error in set two for a hitting percentage of .355, while the defense forced 10 Yellow Jacket errors.

There was no stopping the momentum in set three, another strong start put West Liberty up 12-4 in no time. The Hilltopper defense continued to wreak havoc, as West Virginia State ended the match hitting -.025, after a second consecutive 10-error set in the third, its lowest hitting percentage of the season.

Kirsten Bogunovich led the Hilltoppers by recording her second triple-double in as many games. The senior did it all, charting a match-high 11 kills along with 13 assists and 10 digs, while also serving two aces.

Six Hilltoppers had multiple block assists, while three had double-digit digs. Ruby Countryman paced the front line with eight blocks and MEC Libero of the Year Nyia Setla posted a match-high 15 digs on the back line.

West Liberty will take on a familiar foe Wheeling, the No. 1 seed out of the north, in tomorrow night's semifinals. First serve is scheduled for 8:30 pm in Charleston, W.Va.

Fans can follow the MEC Tournament online at MountainEast.org.

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

Postgame Press Conference with Head Coach Riley Schenk, Nyia Setla, and Kirsten Bogunovich
(Video: Mountain East Conference)