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VB celebrates WHE sweep 2023
Photo: Todd Griffith
0
Wheeling WHL 6-5,0-1 MEC
3
Winner West Virginia St. WVSt 10-3,1-0 MEC
Wheeling WHL
6-5,0-1 MEC
0
Final
3
West Virginia St. WVSt
10-3,1-0 MEC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
Wheeling WHL 18 21 19 (0)
West Virginia St. WVSt 25 25 25 (3)

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

WVSU Volleyball stuns reigning champion Wheeling in straight sets

INSTITUTE, W.Va. – WVSU's volleyball team (10-3, 1-0 MEC) needed just three sets and 79 minutes to come up with a signature win over the preseason favorite and reigning champion Wheeling Cardinals (6-5, 0-1 MEC) on Friday night inside the Walker Convocation Center. Hillary Hurley's Yellow Jackets had 23 more kills than Wheeling and outhit them .255 to .133 in the match. 

It was the first time in Mountain East Conference history that Wheeling has ever been swept by a conference opponent. 

"I'm very proud of the volleyball that our girls played tonight. They put in the hard work and effort and it paid off," head coach Hillary Hurley said.

WVSU led wire-to-wire in the first set, jumping out to a 3-0 lead on the back of three straight kills from Jacklyn Simms. Diamond'nique Young then took over with a block helper and two kills, 6-3. Later in the set, a Valencia Wilder slam gave State the serve again and Simms again went to work rattling off three more consecutive kills. State and Wheeling closed the set trading the next four points, but that gave State the 25-18 set one win. Wheeling was held to .161 hitting in the set with just nine kills while State hit .325 and 20 slams.

Wheeling's Mady Winters opened up the second set scoring with three kills in the first four points with a Simms slam thrown in giving Wheeling an early 3-1 lead. Then with Wheeling up 4-2, State hit three straight slams and a block to take the lead, 6-4. Wheeling eventually tied it up 14-14, 18-18, and 19-19. Natalie Beer, Simms, and Young each killed the ball, then a Simms kill, a Young kill and a Simms service ace closed out set two. 

State again hit over .300 in the set. Wheeling hit better at .256. 

In set three, a Kiersten Eggleton service error to open the set gave Wheeling their only lead of the set. It was a very brief lead. A Young slam and a Wheeling attack error gave WVSU the lead permanently. Wheeling tied it up again at 3-3 and 4-4, but State ripped off an 8-1 run with contributions from everyone on the court at the time. Kaitlyn Cabral, Valencia Wilder, Simms, Eggleton, and Young all had a kill to go with three Wheeling attack errors, 12-5. Wheeling broke that run, but State went on another 3-0 run with Simms and Beer slams bookending a Wilder service ace, 15-6. A 3-0 run by Wheeling trimmed the lead, but State went on another 3-0 run to double-up the defending champs, 18-9. A Jacklyn Simms kill at match point set off pandemonium in the Convocation Center. Alex Darby and Cabral were all over the back line in the third set, making impressive dig after dig. Those contributions along with six digs from Simms held Wheeling to just eight kills in the set and a .020 hitting percentage.

Simms was a single dig shy of a double-double with 19 kills and nine digs to go with her .390 hitting. Young finished with 16 kills in the match at a .387 clip. Darby and Cabral each collected double-digit digs with 25 and 14 respectively. Wilder contributed six block for State.

WVSU will travel to Athens, W.Va. on Tuesday, Sept. 26 to take on the Concord Mountain Lions. Concord defeated the Frostburg State Bobcats Friday night in straight sets. First serve for the match is scheduled for 7 pm.
 
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