West Liberty, W.Va. – Following a 3-game road swing, the West Liberty University volleyball team will return to the friendly confines of the ASRC on Friday night as they welcome MEC South Division leaders, West Virginia State to the hilltop. The Hilltoppers and Yellow Jackets are set for a 7 p.m. first serve.

GAME DETAILS

• Location: West Liberty, W.Va.  (Academic Sports & Recreation Complex "ASRC")
• First Serve: 7 P.M.
• Senior Night: Prior to the start of the match the West Liberty volleyball team will recognize three senior athletes, Katelynn Fritz, Laura Gamel, and Kaija Sydlowski.

WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters Friday's match with a record of 19-6 (8-2 MEC) following a 3-1 road win at Notre Dame on Tuesday night, which pushed their win streak to five. The Hilltoppers are in sole possession of second place in the North Division of the Mountain East Conference standings.
• The win against the Falcons earlier this week propelled the Hilltoppers to their best record in program history through the first ten matches of MEC play, as well as their best overall record through the first 25 matches in a season.
• Through 25 matches this season WLU is hitting .195 while averaging 12.2 kills, 11.3 assists, 1.7 aces, 16.8 digs, and 1.7 blocks per set.
• The Hilltoppers rank within the top-20 of NCAA Division II in four statistical categories, ranking seventh in total digs (1,634), 11^th in total attacks (3,479), 14^th in total assists (1,093), and 17^th in total kills (1,179).
• Katelynn Fritz is among the top-10 of the individual leaders in the MEC with 259 total kills which is eighth most in the league. She is averaging 2.76 kills per set with a .194 attack percentage.
• Liv McAtee and Leah Driscoll are second and third on the team respectively with 195 and 194 kills. McAtee has notched 2.17 kills per set with a .228 attack percentage, while Driscoll has collected 2.73 kills per set and has a .209 attack percentage.
• Dakoda Keni has been among the top freshman setters in the country this season, having tallied 767 assists which is third in the MEC and is the seventh most by a freshman in DII. Keni has been averaging 7.91 assists per set, which is fifth best in the conference.
• Bella Dart and Nyia Setla lead the Hilltoppers at the service line, recording 36 and 33 service aces respectively to average 0.40 and 0.34 aces per set.
• Setla, the leader of the West Liberty defense, has collected 478 digs on the season, which ranks second in the MEC and is the sixth most in DII. She is also second in the conference and 36^th nationally with 4.93 digs per set.
• Grace Hill leads the Hilltoppers at the net and ranks fourth in the league with 80.0 total blocks and an average of 0.99 blocks per set. Page Gross has added 49.0 blocks and is averaging 0.60 blocks per set.
• Riley Jarrett is in her fourth season as the head coach at West Liberty with a career record of 68-36 with the Hilltoppers.

WEST VIRGINIA STATE STORYLINES

• West Virginia State enters Friday's match with a record of 19-4 (9-1 MEC) following a sweep of Concord on Tuesday night, which pushed their win streak to five. The Yellow Jackets are in sole possession of first place in the South Division of the Mountain East Conference standings.
• Through 23 matches this season WVSU is hitting .274 while averaging 13.8 kills, 12.6 assists, 2.0 aces, 15.7 digs, and 2.2 blocks per set.
• The Yellow Jackets rank within the top-25 of four statistical categories in NCAA Division II, ranking 11^th in hitting percentage (.274), 20^th in kills per set (13.78), 20^th in opponent hitting percentage (.136), and 24^th in assists per set (12.55).
• Diamond'Nique Young and Jacklyn Simms have each posted over 200 kills this season with 243 and 212 respectively. Young ranks fifth in the MEC with 3.63 kills per set and is third with a .323 attack percentage, while Simms is fourth in the conference with 3.72 kills per set and is seventh with a .303 attack percentage.
• Kiersten Eggleton leads WVSU and is top-5 in the conference in both assists per set and total assists, ranking fourth with 8.87 assists per set and fifth with 630 total assists. Eggleton also leads the Yellow Jackets at the service line with 31 aces in 2023, averaging 0.44 aces per set.
• With 253 digs this season, Alex Darby is the leader on the defensive side of the court for West Virginia State. She ranks third in the MEC with 4.69 digs per set.
• At the net, Young and Valencia Wilder are both top-10 in the MEC in blocks per set, ranking fifth with 0.96 blocks per set and ninth with 0.87 blocks per set respectively. Young has totaled 64.0 blocks on the year while Valencia has collected 55.0.
• Hillary Hurley is in her first season as the head coach at West Virginia State, holding a career record of 19-4 during her time with the Yellow Jackets.

SERIES HISTORY

• Since 2010 West Liberty holds a 12-1 advantage in the all-time series, including having won the past 11 straight meetings against West Virginia State dating back to 2013.
• In the most recent match-up, the Hilltoppers eliminated the Yellow Jackets in the quarterfinal round of the MEC Tournament in Charleston, West Virginia, on November 10, 2022.