WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. - The West Liberty University volleyball team is set to compete in the Mountain East Conference Tournament this afternoon in the Wehrle Innovation Center on the campus of the University of Charleston. The Hilltoppers earned the three seed in the north division and will take on the south division's two seed West Virginia State in the first quarterfinal match at 12 pm.

West Liberty ended the regular season coming up short in two hard-fought battles against Fairmont State and Wheeling, but come into the tournament with high hopes. The NCAA announced yesterday that the Hilltoppers are up to 7th in the Atlantic Region Rankings, which is the highest in program history. A strong performance at this week's MEC Tournament could set them up for a potential spot in the national tournament. The Black and Gold earned 20 wins for the 10th time in program history and second straight year under Coach Riley Schenk, as they finished the regular season campaign 20-11. West Liberty posted a 10-6 mark against MEC foes, which featured a five-match win streak heading into last week.

More history was made yesterday with 'Topper libero Nyia Setla becoming the first West Liberty player ever to be named MEC Libero of the Year. Setla ranks among the top-three in the country in total digs and the per set average while leading the conference in both. She has put up 20+ digs in three straight matches including back-to-back 27 dog matches to end the regular season. While Setla handles the back line, Ruby Countryman, a second team All-MEC honoree, is the leading force at the net ranking third in the MEC in total blocks featuring a league-best 36 solos. Countryman also leads a balanced attack for the Black and Gold that includes three players with over 220 kills. Riley Cudnik and Kirsten Bogunovich are the Hilltoppers right behind Countryman. Bogunovich picked up All-MEC Honorable Mention recognition for the second straight season, she is on the heels of her seventh double-double on Tuesday and her second triple-double on Friday. Bogunovich has had either double-digit kills, assists, and/or digs in every conference match this year. Right side Liv McAtee rounded out the regular season honors for WLU, obtaining a spot on the all-freshman team. McAtee ended the season with blocks in nine straight matches and posted 8+ kills in the final three outings.

On the opponents side, West Virginia State snapped a 5-game win streak with a regular-season finale loss in straight sets at MEC South Champion Charleston Friday night. The Yellow Jackets are ranked 8th in the Atlantic Region, one spot behind WLU. Defense leads the way, as they hold opponents to a .125 hitting percentage, the second best mark in the MEC and 13th-best nationally. Ashlynne Davis and Alex Darby average over 3.5 digs a set, while Grace Martin and Diamond'Nique Young have 104 and 97 blocks, respectively. Kiersten Eggleton has five triple doubles, averaging 2.45 kills, 4.88 assists, and 2.73 digs per set. She also ranks second in the conference in aces per set with 0.54. Offensively, WVSU ranks third in the MEC in hitting percentage, at .251. Young leads the team and the conference with a .407 hitting percentage and 3.16 kills a set.

Earlier this season against West Virginia State, the Hilltoppers handed the Yellow Jackets their first MEC loss with a thrilling five set victory on the road. West Liberty had a dominating 20 blocks, their most in a match since joining the MEC. The opening set was clinched with four straight blocks to win it, 25-21. WVSU evened it with a 25-20 set two and took the lead after a back-and-forth third set that . WLU was 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 and finished it 25-20. The Hilltoppers scored the first two points of the tiebreak set and never trailed, winning 15-10. The defense held WVSU to a 0 hitting percentage in the fifth set. Cudnik had a season-high 18 kills and led the team with 9 blocks. Bogunovich posted 14 kills, 28 assists, and 7 blocks. Countryman added 14 kills and 8 blocks, while Nyia Setla collected a match-high 26 digs.

In MEC Tournament history, Wheeling has been the only team to ever win since the conference's inception in 2013. West Liberty has been in all now 10 tournaments and has a 5-9 overall record with one finals appearance in 2017. In quarterfinal matches, the Hilltoppers are 4-4 with one of those wins coming in the lone previous MEC Tournament match against West Virginia State back in 2018 in five sets. 

Fans can follow the MEC Tournament over the next three days online at MountainEast.org's Tournament Central.

For all of the latest on the Hilltoppers be sure to check out HilltopperSports.com and social media; Twitter (@WLU_Volleyball | @WLathletics), Instagram (@wlu_volleyball | @wlu_athletics), and Facebook.