INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The West Virginia State University volleyball team was victorious by a 3-1 score line in a redemption match against Davis & Elkins on Saturday night at the Walker Convocation Center. The Yellow Jackets extended their win streak to six games after getting the one-over on the Senators.

"This is the first season with all of my own recruits and, when I recruited them, I promised them that we'd be playing for championships," said Head Coach Kris Kern. "Tonight clinched our first MEC South Division title. I'm a very proud coach."

WVSU leaps to 8-1 in the Mountain East Conference with the win while D&E falls to 6-2 in the MEC with the loss. The victory ensures that West Virginia State will be MEC South Division champions at the end of the regular season.  

Four Yellow Jackets registered double-figures in kills. Juniors Jenna Dufresne (18 kills), Gabrielle Bullock (12 kills), Gabrielle Thompson (10 kills), and J'Lana Stone (10 kills) led the WVSU attack. Freshman Peri Martin set up 39 assists and added two kills of her own to aid the attack.  

Freshman Alex Darby led the WVSU defense with a game-high 20 digs. Sophomores Jordan West (13 digs) and Rachelle Madison (11 digs) also contributed to the defensive effort.

The first set was played evenly through the first ten rallies, 5-5. The Senators then gained the momentum and went on an 8-2 run to go up by five, 13-7. A kill by Gabrielle Bullock followed by a block from the outstretched hands of Grace Martin and J'Lana Stone finally halted the momentum.

After Davis & Elkin's run was put to rest, the teams went back to trading points until the score reached 23-18 in favor of D&E. Two WVSU kills before an attack error committed by the Senators cut the deficit to two points, 23-21. The comeback stopped there with the next two points going the other way. West Virginia State ended up dropping the opening set, 25-21.

The Yellow Jackets hit their stride in the second set. They jumped out to a 4-0 lead before a 4-1 D&E run diminished their advantage to a single point, 5-4. At that point, West Virginia State exploded on a 13-4 run to exponentiate the gap to 10 points, 18-8. Davis & Elkins made a futile attempt to chip away at the lead before a Gabrielle Bullock kill evened the match at one set apiece, 25-17.

The Yellow Jackets played from the front in the third set but had the Senators on their heels early on. Davis & Elkins lingered within five or so points of West Virginia State until the tail end of the set. WVSU scored six unanswered points with four kills, a Rachelle Madison service ace, and a D&E attack error to seize a 10-point advantage, 23-13. Two of the next four points went West Virginia State's way to award the third set to WVSU, 25-15. The Yellow Jackets gained a 2-1 advantage in the match by taking the third.

By the fourth set, West Virginia State was playing with confidence. Again, there was not much separation between the two sides in the early going. The Yellow Jackets then embarked on an 8-2 run that was finished off with back-to-back kills by J'Lana Stone, 14-8. The lead was held onto until a 7-1 run late by D&E put the Senators on top by one, 19-18. From that point forward, WVSU shutout Davis & Elkins to win the final set, 25-19, and the match. Jenna Dufresne fired off three consecutive kills to finish off Davis & Elkins.

The Yellow Jackets held the Senators to a .140 hitting percentage while posting a .267 hitting percentage themselves. WVSU was especially accurate on the attack in the third set with a .538 hitting percentage.

West Virginia State will conclude its regular season with a short trip to rivals Charleston on Friday, March 5th. The match is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.