INSTITUTE, W.VA. – It was a night of career highs for West Virginia State Volleyball, who delivered dynamically in front of perhaps their biggest crowd of the season, taking down Mountain East Conference perennial powerhouse Wheeling in a thrilling come-from-behind five-set performance (25-23, 14-25, 23-25, 25-21, 16-14) Friday at Walker Convocation Center.
THE FACTS
The Yellow Jackets move to 19-3 on the season and 8-1 in MEC action, and snapped a 14-match win streak for Wheeling (17-5, 8-1). The win for State is their first over the Cardinals since 2008,
Senior J'Lana Stone played the hero, registering the match-point kill for the Yellow Jackets and then teamed up with teammate Natalie Beer for the final block of the contest, sending a crowd storming onto the court to celebrate the upset.
Stone was on fire, tallying a career-best 14 kills and added six blocks.
Beer also delivered a career night with an incredible 11 rejections, while senior Grace Martin added nine. The Yellow Jackets recorded 21 total blocks in the contest, which ranks in the Top 10 in WVSU Volleyball history, and is the fourth-most ever recorded in a MEC matchup.
Offensively, senior Jenna Dufresne tallied 21 slams on the evening, her seventh consecutive contest with double-digit kills, and her fifth match of the season with 20 or more. Dufresne tied her career-high with six blocks on the evening, including a solo rejection.
Sophomore Kiersten Eggleton recorded her second double-double of the season, falling one kill shy of her career-high with 10 kills to accompany 21 assists. She was also a force at the net, posting five blocks. Classmate Peri Martin paced the offense, dishing out 30 assists, and fellow sophomore Alex Darby registered 22 digs.
QUOTES
Head Coach Kris Kern on the win
"I'm just incredibly happy for the entire West Virginia State volleyball community. The administration that has believed in us, the parents that have traveled miles and miles, but most importantly, the players. Even back when I was recruiting them as young high school kids, I told them this would be possible- to put us into the conversation with an amazing champion as Wheeling."
On Wheeling
"They have a system that never fails. They plug players in every year and they continue to be the champion. We're just thankful that we're the champion tonight."
On senior J'Lana Stone's performance
"Even though she's not as fiery on the outside, J'Lana is as valuable a player to our program as anyone. She seems to rise up to the occasion in big games, doesn't show negative emotion, and is a wonderful teammate. If you ask any of our players who they would love to have the last kill or the last block of the game, they would want it to be J because everyone loves her."
Senior J'Lana Stone on the atmosphere and her performance
"I really vibed off our bench, and it was really nice to have fans in our stands supporting us. A lot of people were in that crowd today, and we really appreciate it. I knew it was a big game, and that my team needed me. It didn't really matter to me that I'm a senior and it was Wheeling, I just wanted to win."
THE BREAKDOWN
The momentum struck early for State, who secured six straight points, including a pair of blocks from Eggleton and Grace Martin in the opening stanza to build a 9-4 lead.
State continued to control the first set, building wealthy leads of 14-8, 17-10, and 19-12. The Cardinals rallied for four consecutive points to trim the lead to 19-16, and then threatened by tying the contest at both the 22-22 and 23-23 marks.
A kill from Stone put the Yellow Jackets at set point, and a final kill from Dufresne handed State the 1-0 match lead at 25-23.
After a 7-7 stalemate in the second set, Wheeling went on a 6-0 run to steal the lead and keep it for the duration of the frame, evening the match at one set apiece after a 25-14 score.
The third set was a back-and-forth battle, as the two squads endured over 12 ties as late as the 20-20 mark. State regained the lead at 20-19 on a block by the duo of Gabrielle Bullock and Beer, but the Cardinals responded with four consecutive points to tie the contest and build a 23-20 lead.
As with the theme of the night, a block from Stone and Grace Martin, followed by a Dufresne kill, pushed State back to within one at 23-22, but another kill from Dufresne couldn't build a threat for Wheeling, who took the match lead at a 25-23 third frame.
State brought the excitement early in Set 4, using kills from Stone and Dufresne and a block from Beer and Dufresne to build some momentum at 6-3. The Yellow Jackets continued to add cushion, going up 11-9 on a sequence that featured another double rejection from the duo of Beer and Bullock.
Though Wheeling threatened by coming within one at all three of the 12-11, 13-12, and 16-15 marks, State never relinquished, capitalizing on back-to-back Cardinal attack errors and a Bullock kill to build a 19-15 cushion.
Wheeling continued to threaten, coming within two at 23-21 before State won out the final two points of the set, again using their net game to build momentum with Stone and Grace Martin on the block. Dufresne once again tallied the final slam of the set, evening the contest at 2-2 with a 25-21 score.
Adversity was the name of the game in the final frame, as the Yellow Jackets battled back from an 11-4 deficit to deliver the ultimate comeback and upset.
A Dufresne kill put State back on the service line, where Grace Martin served through the next seven points for the Yellow Jackets in a sequence that featured three straight kills from Eggleton and Dufresne's solo stuffing to put State on top 12-11.
Keeping things interesting, the Cardinals tied the score, and put everyone on the edge of their set after reaching a 14-13 match point.
Bullock tied the score once more with a decisive slam to force an extra match point, and Stone's hero kill actually set the scene for State with a 15-14 match point before the final block from she and Beer handed the Yellow Jackets the thrilling fifth set and match victory. WVSU hit at a stellar .417 attack effiency during the final frame.
UP NEXT
State will face a little non-conference action Saturday, traveling to Pippa Passes, Ky., to face Hocking College in an exhibition and takes on Alice Lloyd College at noon. Live stats and video are unavailable at this time.
