WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. - The West Liberty University volleyball team defended its home court with a 4-0 weekend at the Atlantic Region Crossover. The Hilltoppers earned a 3-set sweep of Millersville earlier this morning and finished the homestand off with a 4-set thriller over Clarion.

Game 1 vs. Millersville 

West Liberty started the day off with a dominating sweep of Millersville. The Hilltoppers held the Marauders to a .067 hitting percentage and tallied 18 more kills en route to the victory.

The Hilltoppers never trailed in set one to win in convincing fashion, 25-12. They scored 11 of the final 12 points, including a string of nine straight. The home squad hit .389 in the opening set.

Millersville battled to a 19-18 advantage late in set two, but West Liberty rattled off a 7-1 run to end it and take the 2-0 set lead. Four consecutive points for the Hilltoppers ended it which included kills by Kirsten Bogunovich and Ruby Countryman.

West Liberty took control of set three with eight straight points, making the score 18-10, and cruised to victory from there.

The Hilltoppers served 11 aces in the match, with four coming from Katelynn Fritz.

Countryman led all attackers with 12 kills and also had a match-high four blocks

Kaija Sydlowski set a career-high on the back line with 17 digs to lead WLU.

Game 2 vs. Clarion

West Liberty finished the Atlantic Region Crossover with a thrilling 4-set victory over previously unbeaten Clarion. The Hilltoppers dropped the opening set, then bounced back with three unanswered wins.

The Black and Gold posted a season-best 16 team total blocks, featuring 26 assists and three solos. Ruby Countryman upped her career-high she just broke yesterday with nine total blocks, Kirsten Bogunovich assisted on six and had two solos, while freshman Liv McAtee had an early career-best five assists.

Clarion took a back-and-forth set one with two straight points to break the 23-23 tie. West Liberty came right back and won sets two and three by identical scores of 25-15. The Hilltoppers got out to an 8-1 lead in set two and never looked back, then went on a 10-2 run in the third set to gain distance at 15-7. 

The Golden Eagles had the match looking like it was destined for a fifth set, but not so fast said the Black and Gold. West Liberty faced a 24-20 deficit and put four straight points on the board to tie it up. Bogunovich started the rally with a kill and added an ace and a block on the way to tying the match.

Each team scored to keep it all square at 25, then WLU won three consecutive rallies to put the match in the books. Katelynn Fritz and Nina Billotto had the final two kills on assists from Bogunovich.

Billotto paced the offensive attack with 13 kills. Bogunovich notched a season-high 23 set assists and also had seven kills of her own.

The Hilltopper defense held Clarion to a negative hitting percentage in set two and .077 for the match. In addition to the blocking efforts, Fritz and Nyia Setla each charted 20+ digs on the back line.

Up Next

West Liberty hits the road for its next match on Friday at Salem University before returning home the following day against Daemen College (N.Y.).

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

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