West Liberty, W.Va. – The West Liberty University volleyball team will begin their postseason journey on Thursday evening when they take on Concord in the quarterfinal round of the Mountain East Conference Volleyball Tournament. The Hilltoppers and Mountain Lions are slated for a 7:30 p.m. first serve in the Walker Convocation Center on the campus of West Virginia State in Institute, West Virginia.

GAME DETAILS

• Location: Institute, W.Va. (Walker Convocation Center)
• First Serve: 7:30 P.M.

WEST LIBERTY STORYLINES

• West Liberty enters Thursday's match with a record of 22-8 (10-4 MEC) following a loss in straight sets at Wheeling last Friday night. The Hilltoppers finished second in the North Division of the Mountain East Conference standings and won eight of their last ten matches to end the regular season.
• For the sixth consecutive poll and third straight year WLU has appeared in the NCAA Atlantic Regional Rankings, remaining at No. 8 in the NCAA's third and final release on Wednesday. It marks the second year in a row where WLU appeared in all three of the NCAA's regional rankings.
• A total of four Hilltoppers were selected to the All-MEC teams, as Nyia Setla, Katelynn Fritz, Liv McAtee, and Dakoda Keni received recognition on Wednesday afternoon. Setla was named All-MEC First Team and was the MEC Libero of the Year for the second consecutive season, while Fritz, McAtee, and Keni earned All-MEC Honorable Mention honors. Keni was also selected to the All-MEC Freshman Team.
• Through 30 matches this season WLU is hitting .193 while averaging 12.3 kills, 11.4 assists, 1.6 aces, 16.8 digs, and 1.7 blocks per set.
• The Hilltoppers rank within the top-30 of NCAA Division II in three statistical categories, ranking 15^th in total digs (1,916), 22^nd in total attacks (4,139), and 30^th in opponent hitting percentage (0.147).
• Fritz is among the top-10 of the individual leaders in the MEC with 303 total kills which is tenth most in the league. She is averaging 2.73 kills per set with a .185 attack percentage.
• McAtee and Leah Driscoll are second and third on the team respectively with 250 and 235 kills. McAtee has notched 2.34 kills per set with a .224 attack percentage, while Driscoll has collected 2.73 kills per set and has a .195 attack percentage.
• Keni has been among the top freshman setters in the country this season, having tallied 944 assists which is third` in the MEC and is the seventh most by a freshman in DII. Keni has been averaging 8.28 assists per set, which is fifth best in the conference. She currently holds and is adding to the WLU single-season record mark for single-season assists, breaking the record in a win at Fairmont State on November 3^rd.
• Bella Dart and Setla lead the Hilltoppers at the service line, as both have recorded 37 service aces to average 0.37 and 0.32 aces per set.
• Setla, the leader of the West Liberty defense, has collected 573 digs on the season, which ranks second in the MEC and is the 11^th most in DII. She is also second in the conference and 31^st nationally with 5.03 digs per set.
• Grace Hill leads the Hilltoppers at the net and ranks seventh in the league with 94.0 total blocks and an average of 0.96 blocks per set, that is sixth in the MEC. Page Gross has added 60.0 blocks and is averaging 0.61 blocks per set.
• Riley Jarrett is in her fourth season as the head coach at West Liberty with a career record of 71-38 with the Hilltoppers.

CONCORD STORYLINES

• Concord enters Thursday's match with a record of 16-14 (6-9 MEC) following a 4-set loss at Glenville State last Friday night. The Mountain Lions finished third in the South Division of the Mountain East Conference standings and have lost eight of their last ten matches to end the regular season.
• Meg Williams was the lone all-conference selection for Concord on Wednesday afternoon, as she was named All-MEC Second Team as well as All-MEC Freshman Team.
• Through 30 matches this season CU is hitting .180 while averaging 11.5 kills, 10.8 assists, 1.6 aces, 14.5 digs, and 1.9 blocks per set.
• Williams leads the attack for the Mountain Lions as she ranks second in the conference with 388 total kills on the year and is fifth with 3.59 kills per set. She has a hitting percentage of .175 this season.
• Other attackers to watch are Chloe Thompson and Kyndra Piland, as they have totaled 318 (3.06 kills per set) and 214 (2.00 kills per set) kills this season respectively. Thompson is hitting .212 while Piland has a .243 attack percentage.
• At setter, Paige Richmond ranks eighth in the league in both total assists (585) and assists per set (5.42). However, she has been one of the top players in NCAA Division II at the service line as she is third in the MEC in both total service aces (61) and aces per set (0.56) while ranking ninth and 19^th respectively in DII.
• Allie Davis leads Concord defensively as she ranks fourth in both total digs (481) and digs per set (4.45) in the conference.
• Pilant leads the Mountain Lions at the net as she has tallied 98 total blocks, which is fourth in the MEC, and is averaging 0.92 blocks per set which is eighth most in the league. Csayjah Whitelow has also made an impact as she has collected 85 total blocks and 0.79 blocks per set, ranking eighth and 11^th in the conference respectively.
• Kate Dillon is in her 15th season as the head coach at Concord with a record of 174-288 during her time with the Mountain Lions.

SERIES HISTORY

• West Liberty has won 12 of the past 13 meetings in the series dating back to 2010 and has won 37 of the last 46 sets played.
• In the regular season match-up on October 21^st, the Hilltoppers defeated the Mountain Lions in four sets on the road in Athens, West Virginia, with set scores of 14-25, 25-17, 25-13, and 25-17.
• Katelynn Fritz led all attackers with 15 kills and added nine digs, while Dakoda Keni (38 assists, 12 digs) and Nyia Setla (14 digs, 11 assists) notched double-doubles in the win.