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2
West Liberty WLU 23-9 (10-4 MEC)
3
Winner West Virginia St. WVSU 26-4 (14-1 MEC)
West Liberty WLU
23-9 (10-4 MEC)
2
Final
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West Virginia St. WVSU
26-4 (14-1 MEC)
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
West Liberty WLU 25 25 15 16 8 (2)
West Virginia St. WVSU 21 21 25 25 15 (3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | | Bryan Shepherd, Assistant Sports Information Director

WVSU erases two set deficit to stun West Liberty; will play Wheeling in MEC Finals

INSTITUTE, W.Va. – WVSU Volleyball (26-4, 14-1 MEC) punched their ticket to the Mountain East Conference Volleyball Championship match on Saturday, Nov.18 following their thrilling five-set victory over the West Liberty Hilltoppers (23-9, 10-4 MEC) in the semifinals on Friday, 3-2. 

West Liberty won the first two sets, both by a score of 25-21, before State's defense held the Hilltoppers to a sub-100 hitting percentage in the final three sets of the match while the Yellow Jackets posted a hitting percentage over .450 in two of the final three sets.

Diamond'Nique Young led the attack for the Yellow Jackets with 21 kills and three blocks. Jacklyn Simms, Natalie Beer, and Kiersten Eggleton had double-doubles in the match. Simms had 13 kills and 14 digs, Beer had 10 kills and 11 blocks, while Eggleton had 48 assists and 12 digs. Ashlynne Davis dug 11 Hilltopper attacks.

Historically, WVSU had never beaten the Hilltoppers in the MEC era until this season.

The whole of the first set was back and forth with neither team taking a lead any larger than three points. WVSU went on a late 5-1 run to take a 21-20 lead forcing a West Liberty timeout. West Liberty scored the final five points of the set out of the timeout to steal the set from the top-seeded Yellow Jackets.

The now-shell-shocked Yellow Jackets fell early and far in the second set, 7-0 before WVSU finally scored. The Yellow Jackets spent the entire set playing catch up, and eventually came to within a point multiple times, but West Liberty once again closed the set on a run, this one a 4-1 run to take a commanding, and seemingly insurmountable 2-0 lead in the match.

Then the third set happened. 

With the score tied 6-6, WVSU kicked into high gear and exploded on a 9-1 run with kills by Hannah Steele and Simms, a pair of aces from Darby and a pair of blocks by the duo of Beer and Eggleton. West Liberty broke serve, scored a second point but then WVSU again kicked it into high gear, rattling off seven unanswered points to take a 22-9 lead and changing the momentum squarely in the favor of the Yellow Jackets. State had 13 set points to close the match. West Liberty scored four but a slam by Young sealed set three, 25-15. State hit an unconscious .467 in the set and held West Liberty to .091.

State opened the fourth set with yet another stunning run, scoring eight straight points before West Liberty was able to break onto the scoreboard, 8-1. State and West Liberty traded points through the middle part of the set, but at 19-13, WVSU went on a 6-1 run and had ten attempts at set point to force a deciding set. Steele drove the ball right down broadway on attempt number three and State knotted the match up at two-set apiece with the momentum squarely in their favor. WVSU's hot offense from the third set cooled off considerably, as the Yellow Jackets hit just .190 in the set, but they held the Hilltoppers to a -.053 hitting percentage.

The Hilltoppers scored first in the deciding set, but again State went on a run, a 7-2 one this time to force a WLU timeout. Each team scored two more points before the Hilltoppers called another timeout to try and regroup, but State's defense proved too much to handle and WVSU closed the match on a 6-2 run, setting off pandemonium inside the Walker Convocation Center after West Liberty's final attack fell wide. State committed just one attack error in the set, enroute to a .562 attack rating while holding West Liberty to .067.

West Virginia State will face off for all the marbles against the 11-time Mountain East Conference Champions in the Wheeling Cardinals on Saturday evening at 5:00 pm inside the Walker Convocation Center.
 
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