ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The West Liberty University volleyball team suffered a 3-0 defeat in its opening match of the season against Florida Tech this afternoon at the Eckerd College Invitational in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The Hilltoppers kept it close in the opening set but could not gain a lead. Florida Tech put the set out of reach with five straight points to make it 22-14, then rolled to a 25-16 first set victory.

West Liberty jumped out to the early lead in set two, but the Panthers fought right back as the teams traded blows throughout the middle portion of the set. West Liberty's Ruby Countryman made two kills in a row off assists from Haley Zeck to put the Hilltoppers up 20-19, late in the set. 

After a Florida Tech timeout, Laura Gamel served an ace but the Panthers regrouped and finished off the set winning six of the next eight points to take a 2-0 lead.

The Panthers stormed out to a 6-0 lead in set three and it would prove to be too much to overcome for West Liberty. The Hilltoppers battled it to a one-point game twice, at 15-14 and 16-5, but could not get past the Panthers. Facing match point, WLU won two straight points but ultimately fell 25-21.

Riley Cudnik led all players  with 11 kills, while Nina Billotto turned in a .412 hitting percentage off of 10 kills. Nyia Setla had a game-high 19 digs and Haley Zeck paced the passing game for the Black and Gold with 31 assists.

Florida Tech had a .229 hitting percentage and six service aces en route to the victory, while West Liberty posted a .152 hitting percentage and had eight service errors.

West Liberty will be back on the court in St. Petersburg, Fla. later tonight when they take on the host school, Eckerd College, at 7:30 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.