FROSTBURG, MD. – West Virginia State Volleyball delivered the finale of a perfect week Saturday, having swept four straight opponents in the last seven days. The Yellow Jackets took down North Division opponent Frostburg State in Bobcat Arena by scores of 25-20, 25-18, 25-16.
State finishes the week at 23-3 and 11-1 in Mountain East Conference action, having swept 10 league opponents.
The senior quartet of Jenna Dufresne, Gabrielle Bullock, J'Lana Stone, and Grace Martin continued to impress in their final campaigns, tallying 11, 9, 8, and 6 kills, respectively, to lead the squad. Martin hit at a stellar .455 hitting efficiency with a pair of blocks. Stone also recorded two rejections, while sophomore Kiersten Eggleton led the way at the net with three blocks and dished out 17 assists.
The two squads traded points and leads early in the opening stanza, before State rolled through a 12-3 run that featured two Eggleton aces and a Stone block to build an 18-10 advantage. The cushion was needed, as the Bobcats threatened with five consecutive points to cut the lead to just one at 21-20.
The Yellow Jackets felt the pressure, responding with momentum to secure the set at 25-20 by registering the final four points courtesy of a pair of Bullock slams, a Stone kill, and a Frostburg miscue.
A four-point rally by way of three Bobcat errors early in the second set guided State to a 6-2 lead and maintaining control. WVSU continued to hold an advantage and widened the gap on a 3-0 run that included a Dufresne kill and Stone's other solo rejection, reaching the 16-11 mark.
Three straight kills from Frostburg's Jackie Sterenberg trimmed their deficit to 19-16, but a late surge from Bullock with a pair of kills guided WVSU on a 6-2 run to a 25-18 score and a 2-0 match lead.
After an attack error for the Yellow Jackets began the third frame, the squad responded with six straight points, featuring two Martin slams and two service aces from sophomore libero Alex Darby.
State continued to ride the momentum, using a 3-0 run to go up 10-3 and then rallied for another five consecutive points on a Martin ace and kill, back-to-back slams from Eggleton, and a Bullock kill to build a commanding 15-4 lead.
With the Yellow Jackets holding a 22-10 advantage, Frostburg attempted a comeback, stringing together a 6-2 rally before a final decisive kill from Dufresne handed State the match at 25-16.
Darby finished the match with 14 digs.
UP NEXT
State finally returns to Walker Convocation Center, hosting Glenville State Tuesday, Nov. 2 with a 7 p.m. first serve. Live stats and video will be available.
