CHARLESTON, W.VA. – In their regular season finale, West Virginia State's volleyball team won their seventh consecutive contest Friday, taking down cross-city rivals University of Charleston, 3-1 and finish the hybrid 2020/2021 campaign at 9-1.

With the win, the Yellow Jackets earn the title of Mountain East Conference (MEC) South Division Champions, and will begin tournament play next week.

"[This is} a selfless team. We have players playing a multitude of positions for the good of the team and making the impossible achievable," Head Coach Kris Kern said. "Our athletic department, along with our athletic trainers, navigated through COVID-19 with the utmost professionalism and genuine concern for the health and well being of our young people."

Junior Jenna Dufresne led the offense with 20 kills, her third most of the season, registering an impressive .571 hitting efficiency, while classmate Gabrielle Bullock added 14 kills. Freshman Peri Martin dished out 31 assists on the evening, while the defensive effort was led by fellow rookie Alex Darby (14 digs) and junior Gabrielle Thompson, tallying five blocks. Junior J'Lana Stone was also productive, turning in a stellar .583 clip on eight kills and adding a pair of blocks.

The opening stanza began as a back and forth affair until the Golden Eagles collected four consecutive points to tie and then take the lead at 12-8. The Yellow Jackets responded with a four-point rally of their own before once again falling behind on 5-0 run from UC to trail 16-12.

WVSU continued to battle, evening the score as late as 22-22 before the Golden Eagles claimed the final three points to take the opening frame, 25-22.

The Yellow Jackets fired back in Set 2, picking up seven of the first eight points, including a 4-0 run (which included kills by Bullock and Dufresne and a Bullock service ace) to build an early 7-2 advantage.

WVSU continued to carry the momentum, rallying for the next eight straight points, including two sets of back-to-back slams from Dufresne, to build the lead to 15-3. Another 4-0 run put the Yellow Jackets with a 20-8 cushion, and the squad finished by taking five of the final seven points, including a pair of kills from Bullock, a block from Thompson, and Martin ace.

With a Set 2 score of 25-12 and the match evened at a set apiece, WVSU used registered four straight points twice and a 5-0 run to build a 10-point advantage at 18-8. A pair of Golden Eagle mishaps accompanied by a Stone kill put the Yellow Jackets up 23-11, before taking the match lead 2-1 after a 25-13 third frame.

The trend continued in much the same fashion for what was ultimately the final set, as WVSU collected 10 of the first 13 points led by the trio of Bullock, Thompson, and Stone. UC attempted to chip away at the lead, but the Yellow Jackets responded with eight unanswered points to build a 20-7 margin, including a set of back-to-back kills from Bullock.

The Golden Eagles made it interesting, tallying four straight to narrow the gap to 21-11 and then again at 23-17. A rejection at the net from Martin and Thompson set up match point for the Yellow Jackets, and State sealed the set at 25-18, and the match and division title, with a decisive final kill from Dufresne.

The Yellow Jackets will host Charleston for a rematch in the quarterfinals of the MEC Tournament on Tuesday, March 9th. The match is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start.

Click here for more information on MEC Tournament pairings.