FAIRMONT, W.VA. – West Virginia State Volleyball continued its dominance through the Mountain East Conference Friday, sweeping Fairmont State (25-17, 25-23, 25-16) at Joe Retton Arena.
State picks up its ninth sweep of league play, moving to 10-1 in the MEC and 22-3 overall.
Senior Jenna Dufresne led the way with 18 kills, hitting at a strong .342 attack percentage. The match was her 18th of the season with double-digit kills and her seventh double-double of the year as she added 11 digs. Classmate J'Lana Stone recorded seven kills, and sophomore Alex Darby topped the squad with 23 digs. Darby's 23 digs were just five shy of her career-high 28, recorded earlier this season in a five-setter.
The opening stanza began as a closely contested battle, with both squads going back and forth early. The Fighting Falcons used a 5-0 run to tie and take control of the match at the 14-12 mark, but State responded by securing 13 of the final 16 points of the set in a sequence that included seven Fairmont attack errors. The Yellow Jackets picked up the 1-0 match advantage on a kill from sophomore Natalie Beer, finalizing the set at 25-17.
State kept the momentum for the second frame, using a 6-0 run that featured a pair of Dufresne kills and a Rachelle Madison service ace to take control at 7-5. As Fairmont attempted to chip away, reaching a 10-10 tie, WVSU used a sequence of three straight points on a Dufresne kill and an Ashlynne Davis ace to regain the lead at 13-10. The Yellow Jackets registered another five consecutive points on a pair of FSU attack errors, a block and kill by Stone, and yet another ace, this one courtesy of Darby, to add cushion at 19-13.
A pair of blocks and an ace of their own allowed the Fighting Falcons to narrow the lead to just two at 21-19, and then a trio of kills from Fairmont threatened once more before a rejection from Beer and senior Gabrielle Bullock handed State the second set at 25-23.
The Yellow Jackets built the momentum early in the final frame, using a kill from sophomore Kiersten Eggleton and back-to-back solo blocks from Beer and Bullock to go up 8-5.
State continued to surge, securing six consecutive points with back-to-back slams from Dufresne, sandwiched between Eggleton kills, and then followed by yet another Dufresne kill, to build an eight-point advantage at 14-6.
The Yellow Jackets were able to maintain momentum for the duration of the set, as they limited Fairmont to no more than two-point rallies. Another Eggleton-Dufresne-Eggleton kill sequence pushed WVSU to 23-14, and then the duo finished the frame with a block from Eggleton and kill from Dufresne for the punctuation mark on the evening at 25-16.
Eggleton finished with six kills, while Beer posted three kills and Bullock finished the night with two.
UP NEXT
State finishes their road trip Saturday, facing Frostburg State for a 1 p.m. first serve. Live stats and stream will be available.
