WHEELING, W.Va. – The West Virginia State University volleyball team advanced to the semifinals of the Mountain East Conference Championship by defeating Notre Dame (Ohio), 3-1, on Thursday afternoon at the Alma Grace McDonough Center. This is the first time in program history that the Yellow Jackets will appear in the semifinals of the MEC Tournament. They will take on the winner of the Urbana versus Fairmont State match in the penultimate round of the tournament tomorrow at 5 p.m.

"This is another step forward for our program," said Head Coach Kris Kern in his postgame comments. "This was definitely a solid team win with many contributors."  

Freshman outside hitter Emily Davis made a huge impression on the match in her first postseason appearance. She led the Yellow Jackets in kills with 11 and recorded a .226 hitting percentage. Meanwhile, junior setter Brianna Brandt posted a match-high 42 assists to allow three Yellow Jackets to reach double-digits in kills.

The players in the middle of the net for WVSU were particularly strong in the opening round victory. Sophomores J'Lana Stone and Gabrielle Thompson had seven and six block assists, respectively. Thompson added 10 kills, while Stone registered eight kills on the offensive end.

The opening two sets were mirror images of each other. West Virginia State claimed the first set, 25-20, before conceding the second set to Notre Dame (Ohio), 25-20. The lead was swapped multiple times in the first set, while the Falcons stayed out in front for the majority of the second set.

In the third set, the Yellow Jackets clung to the lead for the most part. Notre Dame rallied late to close the gap towards the backend of the set, but back-to-back kills by Emily Davis and Jenna Dufresne ensured that the Falcons' comeback came up short.

The fourth and final set was never in question. West Virginia State scored six unanswered points in the middle of the set and went on a 5-1 run at the end of the set to take it by a six-point margin, 25-19. Davis was credited with the match-winning kill that sent the Yellow Jackets to the semifinals.

Blocks were the major difference between the two sides. WVSU recorded 15 total blocks as a team compared to four by NDC.

West Virginia State will play again tomorrow on the campus of Wheeling University at 5 p.m. against either Urbana or Fairmont State. The Yellow Jackets defeated Fairmont State, 3-1, and were defeated by Urbana, 3-1, when the teams met in the regular season.