ETTRICK, VA. –  West Virginia State Volleyball improved to 5-1 on the young season after sweeping both Shippensburg (25-16, 25-16, 25-21) and Virginia State (25-21, 25-13, 25-10) on the opening day of the Virginia State Invitational.

"It was a strong all-around team performance for us against a traditional PSAC [Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference] power," reigning Mountain East Conference Coach of the Year Kris Kern said of the team's opening victory.

"And then it was a great atmosphere at VSU tonight," Kern finished. "The Yellow Jackets were solid in all phases this evening. We're looking forward to two more matches tomorrow."

MATCH 1: WVSU 3, SHIPPENSBURG 0
The Yellow Jackets were led by a pair of double-digit kill performances, with junior Diamond'Nique Young and sophomore Natalie Beer each tallying 11 kills and hitting at an above .500 efficiency. Junior Kiersten Eggleton dished out a team-high 21 assists, adding eight kills and digs each to accompany four service aces.

State built an advantage early, putting up a 17-11 lead at the end of a four-point sequence that featured a kill by Eggleton and a block from she and Young. The Yellow Jackets cruised to a 1-0 match lead after securing the final three points on a Young kill, Alex Darby ace, and slam from junior Jacklyn Simms for a 25-16 mark.

The second set started as much more of a cat-and-mouse contest, as the Raiders took an early lead before WVSU went on a 4-0 rally to tie the frame and take control, 8-6. Shippensburg remained within four points until a 5-1 run for State to go up 15-8.

The Raiders once again threated with a trio of unanswered points to narrow the margin to 18-14, but the Yellow Jackets surged with momentum, registering six of the final seven points, the final kill coming from Young for an identical 25-16 score.

With a 2-0 match lead, State battled in the early stages of what was ultimately the finale, with the squads reaching a stalemate as late as 11-11 before six straight points for WVSU put them in command, 17-12. The sequence featured back-to-back service aces from libero Ashlynne Davis, who finished the match with 12 digs.

Shippensburg continued to threaten, trimming the deficit to 20-17 and again at 24-21 before State sealed the victory on a Raiders miscue for a 25-21 set 3 and 3-0 match victory.

Darby finished with six kills and eight digs, and Simms tallied nine kills.

MATCH 2: WVSU 3, VIRGINIA STATE 0
Eggleton led the squad in the nightcap with nine kills, turning in a .400 hitting percentage and tallied another four aces. Young registered a .417 clip on seven kills, while Davis tallied 10 digs and junior Brooke Smith guided the team with 15 assists.

A 4-0 rally from State in the opening stanza gave the Yellow Jackets the advantage at 8-5, but the Trojans continued to threaten and keep the margin close. A 4-1 run for WVSU that capped with a solo rejection from graduate student Grace Martin gave State some cushion at 15-10, and the squad was able to douse anything higher than back-to-back points for VSU for the remainder of the frame to take control of the match 1-0 after a 25-21 first frame.

The Yellow Jackets wasted no time in Set 2, building a commanding lead early at 12-4 after six consecutive points. The squad built a double-digit lead at 19-9 after back-to-back miscues from Virginia State, and then a 4-1 that featured a pair of Eggleton slams continued to build the advantage, putting WVSU up 23-11. Eggleton sealed the set 25-13.

State broke out of the third frame dynamic, picking up the first five points as part of an 8-1 run and continued to carry the momentum, registering eight straight points to go up 20-5. The final four points of the sequence all came from Eggleton, who recorded a kill and three straight aces.

The Yellow Jackets cruised to victory, the final two points coming from sophomore Heather Young, who teamed up with Young for a block for match point and then launched a decisive slam to keep the sweep intact.  

UP NEXT
State concludes the weekend with another twinbill, facing Chowan at 11 a.m. before closing the weekend with Elizabeth City State at 3:00 p.m. Live stats and video streaming will be available.