West Liberty, W.Va. – The West Liberty University volleyball team ended the week with their second consecutive sweep as they downed West Virginia Wesleyan inside the ASRC on Saturday afternoon. The Hilltoppers won their seventh match of the year in straight sets, defeating the Bobcats 25-16, 25-19, and 25-16.
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QUICK DETAILS
Final Score: West Liberty 3, West Virginia Wesleyan 0
Team Records: West Liberty 16-6 (5-2 MEC), West Virginia Wesleyan 5-13 (1-7 MEC)
Attendance: 124
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HOW IT HAPPENED
- Back-to-back double blocks by Leah Driscoll and Grace Hill helped West Liberty open the match with four consecutive points before West Virginia Wesleyan answered with a 6-1 scoring run to take a 6-5 lead. Kills by Liv McAtee, Page Gross, and Katelynn Fritz helped fuel the Hilltoppers own 6-1 scoring run to retake the lead for good in the set. After WVWC took three of the next four points to cut the lead back to two, however, three kills by Driscoll pushed the Black & Gold to a win in the opening frame as they outscored the Bobcats 13-6 to close the set with a 25-16 win.
- West Liberty once again opened set two with four consecutive points to take the early lead. After a kill by Fritz pushed the lead out to 7-2, West Virginia Wesleyan scored five straight points to tie the score at seven apiece. Midway through the frame, a 4-1 WLU scoring run with three WVWC attack errors and a McAtee kill extended the lead to 15-11, however a 6-2 run for the Bobcats tied the game back up at 17. Kills by Dakoda Keni and Driscoll, followed by back-to-back aces by Gross sparked an 8-2 scoring run to close the set with a 25-19 win. While the Bobcats were able to tie the score twice, the Hilltoppers never trailed in set two.
- West Virginia Wesleyan grabbed the early 3-1 advantage in set three, however a kill by Fritz sparked four straight points to give West Liberty the lead for good in the final frame. A kill by Hill capped a 9-1 scoring run that pushed the Hilltopper lead to double digits at 16-6. While the teams went back-and-forth the remainder of the set, the Bobcats fought off three match point plays before Driscoll ended the match with a kill, winning the third set 25-16.
- West Liberty held the advantage in the match with a .183 attack percentage compared to only .044 for West Virginia Wesleyan. The Hilltoppers also held the edge in points (48-37), kills (34-33), aces (7-0), blocks (7-4), and assists (31-27). The Bobcats held the advantage in digs 51-49.
- Nyia Setla and Fritz reached double digit digs for the 21st and 13th consecutive match respectively. With her eighth dig of the match occurring in the second set, Fritz recorded her 1,000th career dig as a Hilltopper.
- For the second consecutive match and fourth time this year WLU did not have a player reach double digit kills, however, the Black & Gold are 4-0 in those matches.
- Keni has reached double digit assists in all 22 matches this season, and with 29 in the win today she has notched 20 or more assists in 18 games.
- After tying her previous career-high for the third time this season in last night's match, Gross tallied four aces in today's win for a new career-high mark.
- For the second consecutive game and third time this season, Driscoll matched a career-high of four total blocks. Gross also added four blocks, marking the fifth time this season she has recorded four or more in a match.
WEST LIBERTY STATISTICAL LEADERS
Leah Driscoll: 8 kills, .231 attack percentage, 4 blocks
Katelynn Fritz: 7 kills, .125 attack percentage, 12 digs
Page Gross: 7 kills, .235 attack percentage, 4 blocks, 4 service aces, 3 digs
Dakoda Keni: 29 assists, 7 digs, 2 blocks, 2 kills
Nyia Setla: 13 digs, 2 assists, 2 service aces, 1 kill
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UP NEXT
After playing three consecutive games at home in the ASRC, West Liberty will now play three straight matches on the road. WLU's next match will be Friday (October 20) at Glenville State. The Hilltoppers and Pioneers are set for a 7 p.m. first serve at the Waco Center in Glenville, West Virginia.