INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The West Virginia State University volleyball team collected their 10th sweep of the season against Notre Dame College on Friday night at the Walker Convocation Center.

West Virginia State (16-11, 8-2 MEC) solidified its third-place ranking in the Mountain East Conference standings with the win. Meanwhile, Notre Dame (18-10, 5-6 MEC) dropped below .500 in league play with the loss and currently sits in sixth place.

Sophomore Gabrielle Bullock and junior Devon Putnam were both instrumental in their outside hitter roles. Bullock had 10 kills and one ace, while Putnam had nine kills and a service ace. They each made 12 digs in the match.

Sophomore middle hitter J'Lana Stone was in on four block assists and registered one block solo to go along with three kills. Accompanying her in the center of the net, sophomore middle blocker Gabrielle Thompson had a strong outing with nine kills on 19 total attempts and two block assists.

The first set was extremely competitive in the beginning. The Yellow Jackets pulled away in the middle of it by going on a 15-6 run that put them up 21-14. They proceeded to win the set, 25-18, after back-to-back kills by Stone and Thompson.

The second set was tremendously tight throughout. The Yellow Jackets found themselves ahead, 23-20, after a service error was committed by their opponents. Two consecutive kills by the Falcons made it close at the end, 23-22. An attack error by NDC followed by a quick over for a kill by junior setter Brianna Brandt put the match at 2-0 in favor of West Virginia State.

The Yellow Jackets went on a 10-1 run in the middle of the third set to go up 20-9. The Falcons then made a respectable comeback to cut their deficit to five points, 23-18. A kill by Bullock followed by another quick over by Brandt for a kill stopped the comeback short and completed the sweep of NDC.

"This was a Herculean effort by our team," remarked Head Coach Kris Kern. "We were able to play with remarkable energy from start to finish."

The Yellow Jackets limited their errors to eight on the night. On the other side of the net, Notre Dame College made 24 errors as a team.

West Virginia State plays Urbana (13-9, 9-1 MEC) at home tomorrow. The match is scheduled for 5 p.m.