INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The West Virginia State University volleyball team made a valiant effort against one of the Mountain East Conference's better teams in Urbana on Saturday night. The Yellow Jackets played every set close, but were ultimately defeated, 3-1, by the Blue Knights.

West Virginia State (16-12, 8-3 MEC) is now level with Davis & Elkins in the MEC standings. The tiebreaker between the two teams, a 3-0 win by WVSU earlier in the season, puts the Yellow Jackets in third place. Meanwhile, Urbana (14-9, 10-1 MEC) sits comfortably in second place after the win.

Sophomore middle blocker Gabrielle Thompson was on fire in the match. She registered 10 kills, four block solos, and two block assists to total a team-high 15 points.

Sophomore outside hitter Gabrielle Bullock was all over the court as her statistics reflected. She recorded 11 kills, three block assists, and 19 digs in a tremendous overall effort.

The Yellow Jackets were the better prepared team and won the first set, 25-22, as a result.

The second set ended up deadlocked at 22-22. Two kills and a service ace by the Blue Knights evened the match at 1-1.

The third set was as tight as the second with Urbana narrowly getting the edge, 25-21.

Urbana jumped out to an early 12-5 lead in the fourth set. The Blue Knights were then able to cruise to a 25-17 victory and claim the match in the process.

The Blue Knights recorded 14 service aces as a team, compared to only two by the Yellow Jackets.

West Virginia State hits the road for its next game at Concord (9-16, 4-7 MEC) on Tuesday, Nov. 5. The match is scheduled for 7 p.m.