West Liberty University Athletics

Wheeling, W.Va. – The West Liberty University volleyball team fell to Wheeling in straight sets in Friday night's regular season finale. The Cardinals clinched the outright MEC North Division Championship with 25-18, 25-23, and 25-17 set wins.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Final Score: West Liberty 0, Wheeling 3
Team Records: West Liberty 22-8 (10-4 MEC), Wheeling 22-7 (12-2 MEC)
Attendance: 300
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• West Liberty opened the match with a strong start as Liv McAtee recorded a pair of kills and Leah Driscoll added another as they led 5-3 early on. Wheeling, however, would score five consecutive points to gain an 8-5 advantage. The Cardinals extended their lead to as many as nine points at 22-13 before the Black & Gold began to build some momentum with a 5-2 scoring run with a pair of kills by Driscoll to go along with a double block by Grace Hill and Dakoda Keni and a solo block by Hill. Wheeling clinched the opening set win 25-18 via a West Liberty service error.
• After a kill by Driscoll gave West Liberty the first point of set two, Wheeling responded by taking the next three points to lead 3-1. The teams then traded the next nine points before a kill by Driscoll tied the score at seven. The Cardinals seized the momentum in the second frame as they opened up a six point advantage with an 8-2 scoring to go up 15-9. WLU cut the deficit down to one on a kill by Keni, capping a 6-1 scoring run to make it a 17-16 contest. The Hilltoppers were able to tie the score at 20 apiece on a double block by Hill and McAtee before Wheeling took back-to-back points to go up 22-20. The Black & Gold continued to battle and responded with three consecutive points, first tying the score at 22 with kills by McAtee and Hill before a double block by McAtee and Hill pushed WLU in front 23-22. However, the momentum stalled on a service error and the Cardinals clinched the set win 25-23 on a double block.
• Wheeling secured the first two points of set three before McAtee put down a kill for the first of two points for West Liberty to even the score back up early in the frame. The teams then traded the next four points before the Hilltoppers took a one point lead on three occasions. The Cardinals, however, started to seize the momentum once again midway through the frame as they rallied off a 5-1 scoring run to go in front 12-9. The Black & Gold continued to battle though as they took six of the next nine points to even the score at 15 apiece on a kill by Page Gross. The teams once again traded the next four points with Driscoll tying the score at 17 before Wheeling finished off the match with an 8-0 scoring run to win 25-17.
• Wheeling held the advantage in the match with a .270 attack percentage compared to .212 for West Liberty. The Cardinals also held the edge in points (57-48), kills (44-39), aces (6-3), blocks (7-6), assists (42-38), and digs (50-38).
• Nyia Setla and Fritz recorded double digit dig performances in the loss, with Setla notching her 12^th straight and 29^th of the season while Fritz collected her third straight and 19^th on the year.
• McAtee and Driscoll notched double digit kill performance on Friday night, with McAtee earning her tenth of the season and Driscoll her 15^th and third consecutive.
• Keni collected her seventh 30+ assist outing in the last eight matches and 17^th this season.

WEST LIBERTY STATISTICAL LEADERS
Liv McAtee: 12 kills, .321 attack percentage, 2 blocks
Leah Driscoll: 10 kills, .276 attack percentage
Dakoda Keni: 35 assists, 6 digs, 2 blocks, 2 kills
Nyia Setla: 13 digs, 2 assists
Katelynn Fritz: 12 digs, 7 kills, .120 attack percentage, 2 aces
 
UP NEXT
West Liberty qualified as the No. 2 seed for the North Division for next week's MEC Volleyball Tournament as they will face the South Division's No 3 seed, Concord, on Thursday night. The Hilltoppers and Mountain Lions are set for a 7:30 p.m. first serve in the Walker Convocation Center in Institute, West Virginia.