INSTITUTE, W.Va. — West Virginia State closed the regular season with one of its biggest wins of the year Thursday night, knocking off the top-ranked team in the MEC South Division with a gritty 3–1 victory over Charleston at the Walker Convocation Center. The Yellow Jackets prevailed 25–22, 21–25, 25–18, 25–20 in a match that featured 20 ties and 12 lead changes, finishing the regular season at 15–12 overall and 9–6 in MEC play ahead of next week's conference tournament.

WVSU hit .226 as a team and outpaced Charleston in total points (72–66), powered by one of its most balanced attacking nights of the year. Alyssa Hill led all hitters with 14 kills, adding three digs and a block assist. Giata Iquinto posted nine kills, 11 digs and a block to finish with 15.5 points, while Carmen Perez added 11 kills and nine digs.

Nicole Gartner Custodio was dominant at the net, delivering nine kills on 17 attempts (.471) and stuffing eight balls (one solo, seven assists) for 13.5 points. Setter Kelsey McKeehan ran the offense with 34 assists and chipped in eight digs and four block assists, while libero Lilly Adkins anchored the back row with a team-high 13 digs.

State also won the serve-pass battle, finishing with 13 aces to Charleston's nine, boosted by Emma Pomaret's four aces and six more split between Iquinto and Perez.

Charleston, which entered as the division leader, fell to 20–12 overall and 11–4 in the MEC. Divine Muo led the Golden Eagles with 14 kills and eight digs, while Patrycja Majos added 11 kills. Setter Abby Avila tallied 44 assists and eight digs.

WVSU controlled the final two sets with superior efficiency, hitting .306 in the third and .286 in the fourth and siding out at 73% and 64% in those frames to seal the upset.

State opened the match with early serving pressure and a pair of strong runs, turning a 1–3 deficit into a 6–3 lead behind a kill from Iquinto, a UC attack error and two straight aces from Pomaret. Charleston briefly steadied, pulling within 6–5, but the Jackets answered with another burst — a block from Custodio and McKeehan, then a pair of Iquinto aces — stretching the margin to 10–5 and forcing UC's first timeout.

Charleston chipped away mid-set, using a 4–1 run to narrow the margin to 15–13, prompting a WVSU timeout. State never relinquished the lead, answering immediately with three straight points out of the break as the Jackets rebuilt control of the frame. McKeehan delivered back-to-back kills to push the lead to 21–15, part of a 4–0 burst fueled by steady serving from Adkins and a kill from Baylee Smith.

UC made one last surge, taking advantage of a pair of WVSU attack errors and a service ace to pull within 23–20 and then 24–22. But Hill buried the set-winning kill on a right-side swing off a McKeehan feed, closing out a 25–22 opening frame that saw State produce three aces, four blocks and score in clusters of momentum-shifting runs.

Charleston seized early control of the second set, using a four-point burst fueled by two blocks and a service ace from Majos to build a 5–1 lead. WVSU answered with its own push, as Hill delivered back-to-back kills and Custodio stuffed a Milne swing to spark a four-point run that pulled State even at 5–5.

The teams traded sideouts through 10–10 before Charleston swung the frame with the most decisive stretch of the set. Behind the serving of Avila, UC rattled off five straight points — a Hill attack error, kills by Majos and Muo and a block on Perez — to surge ahead 15–10 and force a WVSU timeout.

State chipped back within 15–12, but Charleston steadied again. A block from Kate Strong and Kalista Milne, a Majos kill and another Strong–Milne block extended the lead to 17–12. WVSU picked up sideouts from Hill, Custodio and Iquinto before an Iquinto three-point burst — a kill, an ace and another kill — pulled the Jackets within 20–19 and prompted a UC timeout.

Charleston responded immediately, capitalizing on an Iquinto service error, a rare Custodio attack error and a Milne service ace as part of a 5–2 finishing push. A late Custodio kill kept WVSU within striking distance at 23–20, but the Golden Eagles closed the set on Knowles' ace to take it 25–21 and even the match at one apiece.

Set three swung back in State's favor with one of its most complete frames of the night. After trading early points to a 3–3 tie, WVSU grabbed momentum on Iquinto's service ace, surging ahead 6–4.

Charleston momentarily pulled even at 8–8, but the set flipped for good behind a 6–1 WVSU run. Perez ignited the stretch and later capped it with her third kill of the sequence, while McKeehan added a service ace and Hill hammered home a right-side finish to make it 13–8 and force a UC timeout.

State never let the Golden Eagles back within striking distance. Hill, Perez and Iquinto kept terminating in-system, and Custodio and McKeehan paired for another key block to hold off a late UC push. WVSU closed the door with a bad set from Strong, a Hill kill and finally a Custodio block that sealed the 25–18 win.

State started the fourth set on the front foot, with Alyssa Hill hammering the first ball of the frame from Kelsey McKeehan and a UC error pushing WVSU in front 2–0. Charleston answered with a couple of early sideouts and a kill from Divine Muo to pull even at 3–3, and the teams traded blows to 5–3 after a stuff block from McKeehan and Nicole Gartner Custodio against Sophia Knowles.

The Golden Eagles made the first real push, using a Milne kill, a Milne ace and a Cunningham kill to edge in front 8–7, then stretched the margin to 13–9 on an Avila ace, a Majos kill and a Hill attack error. WVSU started to chip away with back-to-back kills from Giata Iquinto to get within 13–11, but a Muo sideout kept UC up 14–11 and forced State to find another answer.

The Jackets found it in a huge serving turn from Emma Pomaret. Trailing 14–11, WVSU ripped off six straight points — a Hill kill, a Custodio kill, a block from Custodio and Iquinto on Muo, a Knowles attack error and a Pomaret ace, followed by another Iquinto termination — to flip the set into a 17–14 WVSU lead and force a Charleston timeout. UC briefly steadied at 17–15 after a McKeehan setting error, but State punched right back with a 4–0 burst featuring a Custodio kill and two Iquinto aces to surge ahead 21–15.

Charleston made one last push, capitalizing on a WVSU service error and two late attack errors to creep within 24–20 and prompt a Yellow Jacket timeout at 24–20. Out of the break, State went right back to its bread and butter — McKeehan to Hill — and Hill buried the final swing to close out the set 25–20 and seal the 3–1 upset.

The Yellow Jackets now turn their attention to next week's Mountain East Conference Tournament. The host site will be determined by Friday's results: Wheeling will host if West Virginia Wesleyan falls to Davis & Elkins or if Wheeling defeats West Liberty. The tournament shifts to West Virginia Wesleyan only if the Bobcats beat D&E and Wheeling drops its match against West Liberty.