WHEELING, W.VA. – In their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 2008, West Virginia State Volleyball delivered dynamically, outlasting former conference foe Shepherd 3-1 (25-22, 25-17, 23-25, 25-23) Thursday in the opening round of action, held at Alma Grace McDonough Center in Wheeling.

The Yellow Jackets will continue dancing, and advance to Friday, where they will face the winner of No. 2 seed Gannon vs. No. 7 seed East Stroudsburg, at 5 p.m. Live stats and video will be available.

"Such a special day for our program," head coach Kris Kern said. "I'm extremely proud of my team."

The win marks victory number 100 for Kern at WVSU, and moves State to a program-best 30-4 on the season. It was also the Yellow Jackets' first-ever NCAA Regional postseason win.

The Yellow Jackets were led by a trio of double-digit kill performances- recently crowned D2CCA Atlantic Region Player of the Year Jenna Dufresne tallied 16, while classmates Gabrielle Bullock and J'Lana Stone added 13 and 10, respectively.

Sophomore Natalie Beer led State at the net with six blocks, while D2CCA Atlantic Region second-team selection Grace Martin posted five.

The squad also had a trio of double-digit diggers- libero Alex Darby finished with 17 while sophomore Kiersten Eggleton recorded 14 and junior Rachelle Madison added 10.

After trading points early in the opening stanza, the Rams tallied four consecutive points to build a 9-5 lead and force the Yellow Jackets into an early timeout.

Returning from the huddle, State picked up three of the next four points, including two kills from Bullock, to come within one point at 10-9. WVSU continued to gain momentum, using a four-point rally that featured a pair of kills from Stone, to take control of the set up 13-11. Shepherd kept things interesting with a 4-0 run of their own to take the lead once more, but it was short-lived as State supplied a 6-1 run, including three straight rejections by Beer and company and put the Yellow Jackets in the driver's seat at 20-17.

State secured the set 25-22 and the 1-0 match lead after registering three of the final four points in a sequence that featured another pair of Stone slams, including the decisive final kill.

The Yellow Jackets carried the late surge of momentum over into the second frame, building a 10-4 lead early, including three kills from Grace Martin and an ace. Shepherd trimmed the deficit to just two points at 11-9, before a trio of points for the Yellow Jackets added some cushion at 14-9.  

What followed was a string of rallies for both squads, highlighted by a 7-1 run from State, to build a commanding 21-13 advantage.  During the rally Stone continued with the theme of the match, delivering a pair of kills.

Shepherd attempted to narrow the gap by securing three of the next four points, but a pair of Dufresne slams, bookending a kill from Eggleton, pushed State to a 25-17 victory and a 2-0 match lead.

The Yellow Jackets once again responded early and often heading into Set 3, going up 11-7 in a sequence that featured three Dufresne kills.

Five consecutive points, including back-to-back Shepherd miscues, pushed State's lead to 18-10. The Rams then surged, capitalizing on four WVSU errors as part of a 7-0 rally, to actually tie the set and take control at 21-20.

From that point the two squads endured three ties, arriving at the 23-23 mark, before consecutive kills from the Rams handed the frame to Shepherd at 25-23 and cut State's match advantage to 2-1.

The Rams broke out into a 9-5 lead in the fourth set before State delivered a 6-1 rally to tie the set and take the lead at 11-10.

From there it was another game of rallies, as the Rams churned up three in-a-row before State responded with a kill each from Martin and Dufresne, and a Madison service ace, to jump back into the lead once more at 15-14.

Shepherd stole the lead once again, going up 20-18 before an attack error and kills from Bullock and Beer pushed State in charge at 21-20. After a brief stalemate at 21-21, the cat-and-mouse ended after the Yellow Jackets arrived at match point on kills from the trio of Beer, Martin, and Bullock.

The Rams continued to threaten with back-to-back points, but in keeping with the tune of the match, and several games during the season, Stone slammed the final kill for State and sent them into the regional semifinals at 25-23, 3-1.

UP NEXT
The Yellow Jackets will continue dancing, and advance to Friday, where they will face the winner of No. 2 seed Gannon vs. No. 7 seed East Stroudsburg, at 5 p.m. Live stats and video will be available.