INSTITUTE – The West Virginia State University women's volleyball team earned a three-set Mountain East Conference victory Friday night over West Virginia Wesleyan College. Carmen Pérez posted nine kills and nine digs for WVSU, while Kelsey Mckeehan added 19 assists and a service ace in the win.
The Yellow Jackets improve to 7-8 overall and 3-2 in conference play, while the Bobcats fall to 6-12 overall and 2-3 in MEC action.
WVSU opened the match on a 3-0 spurt, getting kills from Pérez and Deniz Akgul along with a Mckeehan service ace. After West Virginia Wesleyan claimed a point, the Yellow Jackets answered with three straight points to build a 6-1 lead. WVSU stretched its margin to 10-3 to force a Bobcats timeout before adding two quick points on a Marcelina Pyka kill to push the lead to 12-3. The advantage continued to swell, reaching 19-7 before West Virginia Wesleyan closed the gap to 22-11. Kills from Akgul, Pyka, and Maya Vilmar then closed out a 25-11 opening-set win for the Yellow Jackets.
The Bobcats jumped out to an early lead in the second set, claiming five of the first seven points. WVSU battled back, leveling the score multiple times before taking a 16-15 advantage on a West Virginia Wesleyan attack error. After the Bobcats built a 19-16 lead to force a WVSU timeout, the Yellow Jackets reeled off four straight points—using a Daneya Morgan kill, a Rowe Tapley service ace, and a Milena Jansson solo block—to take a 20-19 lead. West Virginia Wesleyan reached set point at 24-23, but WVSU answered with four unanswered points to gain its own set point at 25-24. A block by Pyka and Vilmar sealed the set at 27-25, extending the match lead to 2-0.
In the third set, WVSU grabbed an early 5-3 lead before sparking a 6-1 run to open up a 14-7 advantage. The Bobcats answered with five straight points to close the gap to 14-12 before the Yellow Jackets stretched the margin back to 19-14. West Virginia Wesleyan pulled within 20-17, but WVSU closed out the match by scoring the final five points, capped by a Tapley service ace and a match-clinching block from Morgan and Jansson to complete the 25-17 set win.
WVSU continues its homestand Tuesday, Oct. 6, hosting crosstown rival University of Charleston. First serve inside the Walker Convocation Center is set for 7 p.m.
