BUCKHANNON, W.Va. — West Virginia State flipped the script on a familiar opponent Friday night, sweeping West Virginia Wesleyan 3–0 in the MEC Tournament semifinals inside the Rockefeller Center. The Yellow Jackets, who dropped both regular-season meetings to the Bobcats (1–3 and 0–3), dominated the rematch 25–19, 30–28, 25–19 to punch their ticket to Saturday's championship match.

State's offense produced 44 kills on .205 hitting, while the defense turned in 52 digs and 7 total blocks, controlling long rallies and delivering shutdown stretches when momentum swung. Wesleyan, which entered 20–8, was limited to .156 hitting and just one service ace.

Alyssa Hill led all hitters with 16 kills on .448, powering State in all three sets. Nicole Gartner Custodio added 11 kills and a match-high 5 blocks, while freshman pin Giatta Iquinto contributed 8 kills, 5 digs and 4 block assists. Setter Kelsey McKeehan directed the attack with 36 assists, 8 digs, and an ace.

Libero Lilly Adkins anchored the back row with a team-best 17 digs, helping State win the serve-pass battle throughout the sweep.

Set 1 — WVSU 25, WVWC 19

West Virginia State opened the match with a commanding start, racing to a 6–0 lead behind a run of Wesleyan attack errors and an early kill from Giatta Iquinto. Two blocks — one from Iquinto and Nicole Gartner Custodio, and another from Custodio and Alyssa Hill — helped State establish control before the Bobcats finally stopped the surge at 6–1.

WVSU continued to dictate tempo, stretching the margin to 13–4 behind kills from Custodio, Carmen Perez, and Hill while Wesleyan struggled to find rhythm offensively. The Jackets' block and serve pressure forced repeated errors, keeping the lead at 19–7 after another denial from Iquinto and Custodio.

Wesleyan responded with its best run of the set, scoring six straight to pull within 20–13 behind kills from Emily Denison, Bhrooke Axe, and Emonie Fennell and a service ace from Claire Wheeler. State steadied late, with Hill converting another right-side swing and Custodio closing the frame with her fifth kill of the set to secure the 25–19 win.

Set 2 — WVSU 30, WVWC 28

The second set turned into the match's defining battle, a swing-heavy frame that featured long sideout stretches, multiple ties, and dramatic momentum shifts. Carmen Perez opened the set with a service ace, but Wesleyan answered quickly, and neither side led by more than three until deep in the back half.

State inched ahead 8–5 after a kill from Perez and a block by Kelsey McKeehan and Baylee Smith, but Wesleyan countered with a steady run of its own, using kills from Lisdarelyn Grassals and Sabrina Carleton to pull even at 9–9. The teams traded points through 15–15, highlighted by big swings from Hill, Custodio, and Perez, before State pushed ahead 19–15 on back-to-back kills from Hill and a Wesleyan attack error.

The Bobcats responded with their best stretch of the set, clawing back to 22–22 behind kills from MacKenna Halfin and Emily Denison and two late State errors. After WVSU earned set point at 24–23 on a Perez kill, Wesleyan forced extra points with an aggressive block, and the teams traded blows deep into the 20s.

Hill delivered a kill to tie it at 27–27, then again moments later to even the frame at 28–28. From there, State closed the set with poise: a Denison error brought up set point at 29–28, and another Wesleyan attack error — this time by Grassals — sealed the marathon 30–28 win and a commanding 2–0 match lead.

Set 3 — WVSU 25, WVWC 19

West Virginia State carried the momentum of its marathon second-set win straight into the third, opening with three early kills from Alyssa Hill to build a 3–1 lead. A string of Wesleyan attack errors widened the margin to 5–1, and Custodio added a kill to push the advantage to 7–2.

Wesleyan briefly rallied, cutting the deficit to 8–7 behind kills from Sabrina Carleton, Emonie Fennell, and Emily Denison, but State immediately regained control. Perez stopped the run with a kill, and Hill followed with another sharp swing to extend the lead to 11–8. McKeehan delivered a service ace moments later, helping State push ahead 13–8.

The Jackets continued to separate behind Hill's dominant set — she tallied multiple kills in all rotations, including key conversions at 14–10, 16–12, and 18–12. Iquinto added back-to-back kills to stretch the margin to 18–12, and Custodio's kill off a Moeschler overpass made it 20–13.

Wesleyan pulled within 22–18 after a short burst from Denison and Halfin, but State wasted no time closing the frame. A service error gave the Jackets match point at 24–19, and Baylee Smith sealed the sweep with a service ace to finish the 25–19 victory and send WVSU to tomorrow's MEC championship match.

Up Next

The victory sends West Virginia State back to the MEC championship match for the third straight season and the fourth time in five years, where the defending tournament champions will face second-seeded Charleston on Saturday at 6 p.m. The teams split the regular-season meetings with matching 3–1 home wins — UC claiming the Oct. 14 matchup before State answered on Nov. 13 — setting up a decisive rubber match for the title on the neutral floor of the Rockefeller Center on the West Virginia Wesleyan campus.