Canton, Ohio – Battling back from a loss in the first set, the West Liberty volleyball team notched a four set win on the road at Malone on Tuesday night. After dropping the first set 24-26, the Hilltoppers won 25-20, 25-21, and 25-16 in the next three sets to secure their best start to a season since 2018 when they also went 8-2 in the first ten games of the season.
 
QUICK DETAILS
Final Score: West Liberty 3, Malone 1
Team Records: West Liberty 8-2, Malone 2-7
Attendance: 126
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• With early kills in the match by Liv McAtee and Katelynn Fritz, West Liberty was able to jump out to a 4-2 lead in the opening set. With back-and-forth play the Hilltoppers maintained a two point lead before back-to-back kills from Leah Driscoll and Fritz pushed the lead to four and forced a Malone timeout. Coming out of the timeout the Pioneers rallied off a 6-2 scoring run to tie the match at 15. MU extended the scoring run to 11-5 to take a 20-18 lead and force WLU to call their first timeout of the set. Out of the timeout the Black & Gold responded with a 6-3 scoring run to regain the lead 24-23, however the Pioneers took the final three points of the set to win 26-24.
• Kills from Driscoll and Fritz once again helped West Liberty open up an early lead in set two, taking a 6-3 lead. Malone took three of the next four points to get within a point, however the Hilltoppers responded with a 5-1 scoring run to push the lead to five at 12-7. WLU led by as many as eight points on two occasions in the later stages of the frame, and they closed the set with a kill by Driscoll to win 25-20.
• In set number three it was Malone who was able to grab the early lead, jumping out to the 6-2 advantage, however three kills by Fritz and a service ace by Jarynn Hartman tied the set at six. The Hilltoppers extended their scoring run to 8-1 to grab a 10-7 lead, a lead they would not surrender the remainder of the frame. While the Black & Gold would lead by four on several occasions the lead would never grow any larger, allowing the Pioneers to stay within striking distance. Driscoll put the set away for WLU, notching a kill to win the set 25-21.
• Set four was all West Liberty from the beginning, scoring the first five points of the frame and extending their lead to 11-3 after a pair of kills from Gross and one from Fritz. Another 5-0 scoring run midway through the set allowed the Hilltoppers to grab the largest lead of the set at 13, leading 20-7 after a service ace from Bella Dart. While Malone tallied four of the final six points, WLU secured the match point on a MU attack error, winning the set 25-16.
• The Hilltoppers held the advantage in the match with a .238 attack percentage compared to only .145 for Malone. WLU also held the edge in points (70-51), kills (58-39), aces (10-4), assists (56-32), and digs (70-55). MU had an 8-2 advantage in blocks in the match.
• With 49 assists in the match, Dakoda Keni posted the most assists by a West Liberty setter in over a decade, recording the most since Chelsea Byrge notched 56 in a match against Fairmont State on November 6, 2012. Keni also added ten digs in the match to record her fourth double-double of the season.
• Ashley Cudnik reached double digit kills for the fourth time this season, posting a season-high 15 kills and .290 attack percentage. Leah Driscoll reached double digit kills for the second time this season with 12 on the night, one shy of a career-high set in the season opener.
• Dart reached double digit digs for the fourth time in the last five matches and added five service aces for her second consecutive match of five or more aces.
• Nyia Setla has reached double digit digs in all ten matches this season and recorded her fourth game of the season with 20 or more digs.

WEST LIBERTY STATISTICAL LEADERS
Dakoda Keni: 49 assists, 10 digs, 4 kills, 2 service aces
Ashley Cudnik: 15 kills, .290 attack percentage, 2 digs
Leah Driscoll: 12 kills, .267 attack percentage, 3 digs
Nyia Setla: 23 digs, 4 service aces
 
UP NEXT
West Liberty will co-host with Wheeling in this upcoming weekend's Atlantic Region Crossover Tournament on Friday and Saturday. On Friday afternoon the Hilltoppers will host Slippery Rock (1 P.M.) and Clarion (5 P.M.), followed by Shippensburg (11 A.M.) and Pitt-Johnstown (5 P.M.) on Saturday at the ASRC.