INSTITUTE, W.VA. -- For the third consecutive season, West Virginia State Volleyball advances to the semifinals of the Mountain East Conference Tournament, after their 3-1 win Thursday over Notre Dame College (18-25, 27-25, 26-24, 25-14) in the quarterfinals at Walker Convocation Center.
State moves to 28-3 on the season, where head coach Kris Kern sits just two victories away from 100 wins at West Virginia State.
Veteran Jenna Dufresne led the way with a match-high 17 kills, turning in an impressive .342 hitting efficiency. Dufresne tallied her 10th double-double of the year, adding 12 digs. Classmate J'Lana Stone was just three-shy of her career-high of 14 kills recorded earlier this season, finishing the contest with 11, and added five blocks.
Sophomore Kiersten Eggleton fell one kill shy of her second triple-double of the year, finishing the match with nine kills, 30 assists, and 17 digs.
Other double-digit diggers include junior Rachelle Madison with 19 and sophomore libero Alex Darby with 20. Senior Grace Martin and sophomore Natalie Beer each posted seven blocks in the contest.
"Notre Dame played wonderfully," Kern said. "I'm proud of our resiliency, and it is an honor to move on to the semis of this great tournament."
After starting the first set with a point via a sanction against State, NDC continued to control the momentum during the opening stanza, using a 5-1 run to build an 11-7 lead. The Falcons widened the gap after three consecutive points brought the score to 18-12 and forced Kern and crew to call a timeout.
A 4-1 rally that featured a kill from Beer and Dufresne and a block from the veteran duo of Stone and Martin had the Yellow Jackets looking to threat, but the Falcons capitalized on back-to-back attack errors from State to take the first set 25-18 and a 1-0 match lead. WVSU was held to just a .158 hitting percentage.
The second frame was a back-and-forth affair with both squads knotted up at 12 before the Falcons registered six of the next seven points to build an 18-14 lead.
State responded with five consecutive points to tie the contest once more at 18-18 in a sequence that featured kills from Beer, Martin, and Dufresne, and a block by the latter duo.
Two timely slams from Stone kept the Yellow Jackets even with the persistent Falcons, and then State took advantage of back-to-back attack errors to tie the frame once again and take the lead at 23-22, with a kill from Dufresne bringing WVSU to set point at 24-22.
The cat-and-mouse continued after a trio of points from NDC then put the Falcons at set point at 25-24.
Dufresne ignited, tallying three straight slams to tie the contest, bring State to set point, and then hand deliver the set at 27-25 and even the match at 1-1. The two squads endured 16 ties during the frame.
The third set began in much similar fashion to the second, when after trailing early 8-4, the Yellows went on a 7-2 run that featured a pair of Eggleton kills and a service ace to jump into the lead 11-10.
WVSU took the momentum and built on it, securing seven of the next nine points including four in a row that featured a pair of blocks from Martin and her classmates, Stone and Gabrielle Bullock, to build some cushion at 18-14.
The Falcons continued to be pesky, going on a 7-2 run to regain the lead 21-20. A kill from Dufresne brought the score to 23-23, and then after being faced with set point at 24-23, State enacted deja vu from its second set. The squad registered three straight points as Stone delivered a kill for set point and Dufresne finished the frame 26-24, just like the set before.
With a 2-1 match lead, State used a pair of 4-0 rallies to build a 9-4 lead and then another set of four straight points to continue building their lead, up 16-10 in a sequence that featured two blocks from Beer and a kill.
The Yellow Jackets continued to widened the gap as a pair of Falcon miscues sandwiched a Dufresne kill and set the score to 21-12. In the same pattern as with their two previous sets, WVSU again secured the final three points of the frame, this time on a NDC error and back-to-back kills from Bullock.
Bullock finished with six kills, and needs just four more to eclipse 1,000 in her career.
UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets will play Friday at 5 p.m., and face the winner of Fairmont State and Charleston, who play at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
