WEST CHESTER, Pa. – The West Virginia State University women's volleyball team closed its opening weekend with a pair of nonconference wins at the PSAC East Crossover, beating host West Chester University 3-2 before earning a 3-1 victory over Millersville University. The wins improve WVSU to 3-0 on the season.
West Virginia State 3, West Chester 2
Carmen Pérez led the Yellow Jackets with 11 kills and two service aces.
Gabrielle Elliott also recorded 11 kills, while
Lilly Adkins had three aces and a match-high 26 digs. West Chester controlled the first set, taking an early 11-3 lead. WVSU was unable to recover as the Golden Rams took the first set 25-12.
Set two saw WVSU take an 11-10 lead on a kill by
Deniz Akgul, starting a 5-0 run that stretched the lead to 15-10. West Chester pulled within 20-17, but four consecutive WVSU points gave the Yellow Jackets a 24-17 advantage. Pérez had two kills and a service ace during the run. After the Golden Rams scored three straight, a service error gave the Yellow Jackets a 25-20 set win.
The Yellow Jackets controlled the third set, taking an early 11-3 lead. WVSU extended its advantage to 23-12 before West Chester capitalized on two attack errors to pull within 23-14. Consecutive kills by Elliott gave WVSU the 25-14 set victory.
Set four was close early, with WVSU within two points before an 8-0 run put West Chester ahead 20-9. WVSU mounted several scoring runs, including three straight points capped by a
Baylee Smith service ace, but could not overcome the deficit as the Golden Rams forced a fifth set with a 25-19 win.
West Chester took an early 4-1 lead in the final set, but WVSU rallied to take a 10-9 lead on a West Chester service error. The Yellow Jackets scored six of the final nine points, getting two kills from Pérez and a match-ending kill from
Giatta Iquinto to secure the 15-12 set victory and the 3-2 match win.
WVSU 3, Millersville 1
Iquinto led the Yellow Jackets with 15 kills and eight digs in the second match. Pérez added 17 digs, while Adkins recorded 16. Kelsey McKeehan finished with 30 assists.
WVSU used an early 5-0 run featuring an ace by Pérez and three consecutive WVSU kills to build a 7-3 lead. Shortly after, another WVSU scoring run extended the advantage to 13-7, prompting a Millersville timeout. The Yellow Jackets maintained control, scoring the final four points and winning 25-16 on a set-ending ace by
Audrey Buck.
Millersville took an early lead in the second set, with WVSU keeping the score close. After the Marauders used a 3-0 run to take an 11-6 lead, they built an advantage as large as 20-13 before taking the set 25-19.
WVSU scored the first four points of the third set, including three consecutive service aces from McKeehan. The Marauders answered with six of the next seven points to take a 6-5 lead. After trading the lead, Millersville scored four straight points to go ahead 14-10 heading into a WVSU timeout. Out of the break, WVSU stayed close before Millersville extended its lead to 22-16. Following a timeout, WVSU scored five straight points to pull within 22-21. The Yellow Jackets fought off a set point at 24-23, winning 26-24 following kills from Pérez and Buck and a set-ending ace from
Kiela Sanger.
WVSU took an early 6-2 lead in the fourth set, aided by three Marauders attack errors. The Yellow Jackets never relinquished the lead. After Millersville pulled within 19-17, WVSU went on a 4-1 run to take a 23-18 lead into a timeout. Millersville scored two points out of the break before kills from Akgul and Iquinto sealed the 25-20 set win and the 3-1 match victory.
The Yellow Jackets return to the court next weekend hosting the WVSU-UC Crossover. WVSU will face Young Harris College and Roosevelt University on Friday before playing Shepherd University on Saturday.
