INSTITUTE, W.Va. -- West Virginia State's volleyball team will prepare for what could be the most difficult week of the regular season as the Yellow Jackets will host the West Liberty Hilltoppers on Tuesday, then head to the northern panhandle to take on perennial powerhouse Wheeling.

THE BUZZ AT STATE (20-1, 7-0 MEC South)
The Yellow Jackets are one of the best all-around teams in the Mountain East, topping the stat charts in opponent hitting percentage (.084), opponent assists (8.18 per set), opponent kills (8.73 per set), opponent service aces (0.98 per set), and opponent digs (11.53 per set). The Yellow Jackets are second in the conference in hitting percentage (.275), assists (12.55 per set), kills (13.70 per set), and service aces (2.27 per set).

Junior transfer Diamond'Nique Young leads the Mountain East in hitting percentage, hitting at a .430 clip, and ranks in the top 10 in the conference in blocks (65 total, 1.08 per set), kills (3.23 per set), and points (3.88 per set).

WVSU comes into the week riding an 18 game winning streak and have only dropped a total of four sets in the seven conference matches the Yellow Jackets have played. The only loss this season was in the third match of the year against Limestone University.

SCOUTING THE HILLTOPPERS (14-8, 4-3 MEC North)
WVSU has yet to beat the Hilltoppers during the days of the Mountain East. The last victory against West Liberty was on September 28, 2012 in West Liberty. Last year, the Yellow Jackets were riding a 13-match winning streak heading into the cross-divisional matchup before falling in five sets.

The Hilltoppers took on Nerth Division leader Wheeling, eventually getting swept by the Cardinals then hosted Glenville State and Concord and knocking them off in straight sets. 

Sophomore Ruby Countryman leads the offensive charge for the Hilltoppers, registering 183 kills in the 77 sets she's played in. Classmate Riley Cudnik is next on the stat chart, getting credit for 145 kills in 59 sets.

Sophomore libero Nyia Setla has 454 digs on the season, well above anyone else on the team. Junior Katelynn Fritz is second with 193 digs.

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS (14-6, 7-0 MEC North)
WVSU has defeated the Cardinals one time since the 2008 season, a thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 Yellow Jacket victory inside the Walker Convocation Center last season before falling to the Cardinals 3-1 in the Mountain East Tournament championship. Dating back to Oct. 17, 2002 the Yellow Jackets have only beaten Wheeling four times.

The Cardinals lead the Mountain East in most offensive stat categories including hitting percentage (.297), assists (12.88 per set), kills (13.85 per set), and blocks (2.70 per set). On the defensive side of the ball, the Cardinals are much more lackluster ranking seventh in digs (15.65 per set), ninth in opponent hitting percent (allowing .191), last in opponent assists (12.69 per set), last in opponent kills (13.75 per set), an eighth in opponent blocks (suffering 1.75 blocks per set).

Junior Tylah Yeomans leads the offensive side of the ball for the Cardinals, achieving 3.78 kills per set followed by redshirt senior Allonda Watkins with 3.09 kills per set and Sophomore Mady Winters has 2.35 kills per set.

Last year's starting Libero for Wheeling Audrey Francis has moved to the Graduate Assistant, making way for sophomore Chylyn Pate to move into the position. Pate averages 3.3.1 digs per set in the 48 sets that she's played.