Institute, W.Va. – After a convincing opening set win, the West Liberty University volleyball battled a determined Concord team and fought to a 4-set win in Thursday's MEC Tournament Quarterfinals. The Hilltoppers won with set scores of 25-12, 23-25, 25-16, and 25-23 to advance to their third consecutive semifinal appearance in the conference tournament.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Final Score: West Liberty 3, Concord 1
Team Records: West Liberty 23-8 (10-4 MEC), Concord 16-15 (6-9 MEC)
Attendance: 198
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• A pair of kills from Liv McAtee and one from Leah Driscoll helped West Liberty get out to an early 4-2 advantage to open the match before the team's traded 4-0 scoring runs. After Concord tied the score at ten the Hilltoppers seized control and ended the first set on a 15-2 scoring run for a 25-12 win. The Black & Gold hit .500 in the first set with 14 kills and only two errors on 24 attack attempts.
• Concord quickly regrouped and opened the second set with a 6-2 advantage before McAtee sparked the momentum for West Liberty's response. The Hilltoppers took eight of the next ten points with three kills coming by way of Katelynn Fritz, pushing WLU in front 10-8. The lead changed hands three more times the remainder of the second frame, but CU took the lead for good on a 6-1 scoring run after trailing by three midway through. The Mountain Lions evened the match at one set apiece with a 25-23 win in the second.
• After a service error gave Concord the first point of set three the Hilltoppers settled in and moved ahead with a 10-5 advantage. The Mountain Lions momentarily got with three points at 10-7 but WLU was in control and led throughout and by as much as nine points following a service ace by Laura Gamel and a kill by Driscoll. West Liberty clinched the win in the third frame by a score of 25-16 with a kill by Fritz.
• A pair of kills by McAtee helped West Liberty gain the early 3-1 advantage in the fourth set before Concord gained the lead with three unanswered points. The Mountain Lions held their largest lead at 12-7, but a kill by Fritz sparked a 6-1 scoring run to even the score at 13 apiece. After trailing by two once again at 20-18, WLU scored five unanswered and looked to be on their way to the semifinals, but CU gave one final challenge by tying the score at 23 apiece. A kill by McAtee broke the tie and a kill by Grace Hill clinched the set win 25-23 and advanced the Black & Gold in the postseason.
• West Liberty held the advantage in the match with a .309 attack percentage compared to only .128 for Concord. The Hilltoppers also held the edge in points (73-50), kills (59-42), aces (7-6), blocks (7-2), assists (57-39), and digs (70-58).
• McAtee recorded a career-high 18 kills while posting her 11^th double digit kill performance of the season. She also notched a season-best attack percentage of .516 in the win (minimum ten attacks).
• Fritz notched her 15^th double-double of the season with 15 kills and 13 digs, collecting her 20^th double digit kills and digs performance.
• Driscoll reached double figure kills for the fourth consecutive match and seventh time in the last nine outings. Overall, her 14 kills marked the 16^th double digit kill performance of the season.
• Keni was one assist shy of her season-high, posting 52 in the win. It was her sixth match of 40 or more assists and second of 50 or more in 2023. She will enter tomorrow's semifinal match only needing four assists to become the first Hilltopper in program history to reach 1,000 in a single-season.
• In her first game playing at libero this season and filling in for Nyia Setla who did not play in the contest, Bella Dart posted a career-high of 25 digs in the win and her ninth double digit dig performance of 2023.

WEST LIBERTY STATISTICAL LEADERS
Liv McAtee: 18 kills, .516 attack percentage, 4 blocks, 3 digs
Katelynn Fritz: 15 kills, .231 attack percentage, 13 digs, 3 service aces, 2 blocks
Leah Driscoll: 14 kills, .355 attack percentage, 4 digs
Dakoda Keni: 52 assists, 7 digs, 2 kills, 2 service aces
Bella Dart: 25 digs, 4 assists
 
UP NEXT
West Liberty advances to the MEC Tournament Semifinals for the third consecutive season and will play the South Division's No. 1 Seed, West Virginia State. The Hilltoppers will face the host Yellow Jackets tomorrow afternoon at 5 p.m. in the Walker Convocation Center in Institute, West Virginia.