CEDARVILLE, Ohio - In front of 1,500+ rowdy Cedarville fans, the West Liberty University volleyball team thrived off the environment and silenced the home crowd. The Hilltoppers took 3-of-4 sets to defeat Cedarville in the nightcap of day one at the Cedarville Invite.

West Liberty took sets 1, 2, and 4 of the early season thriller, earning a 2-0 start to the Invite while evening its season record at 3-3.

Four Hilltoppers recorded double-digit kills, led by Nina Billotto and Kirsten Bogunovich with 11 apiece, while Ruby Countryman and Katelynn Fritz added 10 each. 

Nyia Setla paced the serving efforts accounting for half of the Black and Gold's six aces. Laura Gamel and Haley Zeck tag teamed the passing duties with 24 and 23 assists, respectively.

The Hilltopper front line defense was a difference maker in the match, racking up 11 blocks. Countryman had a solo and five assists, Sydlowski charted four block assists, while Billotto put down a match-high three solo blocks. Setla totaled 32 digs to lead the backline defense. 

West Liberty set the tone for the match late in set one when they rattled off five straight points to take the opener 25-19. Setla served two aces on the run and Sydlowski ended the set with a kill on an assist from Zeck.

Set two was an instant classic that ended up needing more than the allotted 25 points to declare a winner. Cedarville tried to take control of the set midway through with a 16-12 advantage, but the Hilltoppers went on a 4-0 run to tie it up. No team scored more than two points in a row the rest of the set. Bogunovich slammed a kill and then assisted on a block with Countryman to finally end the set at 28-26, extending the Black and Gold lead to 2-0.

Cedarville avoided the sweep with a 25-20 set three victory. West Liberty made a late push for the sweep, scoring three consecutive points to make it 24-20, but came up short.

A 10-10 tie was broken in the fourth frame with six straight Hilltopper points to take hold of the set. Countryman made it official with a stuff of the Yellow Jacket attack.

West Liberty will look to continue the win streak in day two of the Cedarville Invite tomorrow. Two matches are on the docket for the Black and Gold, first up is an 11:30 match against Central State then a 2:00 pm date with Seton Hill will follow.

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