Ashland, Ohio – The West Liberty University volleyball team battled hard but came up short in both of its Saturday matches at the Ashland Invitational, falling 3-0 to Indiana (Pa.) in the afternoon and 3-0 to the host Eagles in the nightcap.

In the opener against IUP, the Hilltoppers (1-3) were competitive throughout, pushing the Crimson Hawks in all three sets before falling 25-19, 25-20, 25-22. West Liberty hit an impressive .250 as a team, led by Kyia White's 10 kills, while Liv McAtee added 7 and Adrienne Staib chipped in 5. Dakoda Keni and Olivia Beldean combined for 24 assists, while Bella Dart and Ashley Cudnik paced the defense with 8 digs apiece.

In the night match, West Liberty ran into a red-hot Ashland squad that improved to 3-0 on the season with a 25-21, 25-19, 25-15 sweep. White again led the way with 7 kills, followed closely by McAtee with 6 and Grace Hill with 5. Keni handed out 13 assists, and Dart collected a team-high 10 digs. Behind the service line, Jarynn Hartman and Staib each tallied 2 aces.

The Hilltoppers will return home to host Malone Tuesday night in their home opener at the ASRC.