WHEELING, W.Va. – The West Virginia State University women's volleyball team dropped a pair of nonconference matches Friday during opening-day action at the West Liberty-Wheeling Crossover.
Match One: Gannon 3, WVSU 0
Carmen Pérez led the Yellow Jackets attack with 11 kills to go along with a team-high 10 digs. Gabrielle Elliott posted seven kills, while Ahaziah Smith recorded five kills and three blocks. Kelsey Mckeehan dished out 16 assists.
Gannon opened the match on a 7-2 run, but WVSU stayed within reach at 15-10 heading into a media timeout, aided by a pair of service aces. The Golden Knights expanded their lead with a 10-3 surge to make it 23-13. The Yellow Jackets responded with three straight points—highlighted by kills from Milena Jansson and Elliott—before Gannon closed out the opening set 25-16.
The Golden Knights scored the first three points of the second set before Elliott put WVSU on the board. After Gannon built an 8-3 lead, Pérez sparked a three-point Yellow Jackets rally with a kill and an ace before another Elliott kill brought WVSU within two at 8-6. Gannon used a 7-3 run to build a 15-9 advantage, though WVSU answered by taking three of the next five points. Gannon eventually reached set point at 24-16 before Elliott delivered a kill and followed with an ace to trim the deficit before the Golden Knights secured the set.
Neither team seized an early advantage in the third set as WVSU remained within two points and tied the set at 6-6 on a Pérez kill. A four-point Gannon run prompted a WVSU timeout, out of which the Yellow Jackets answered with a 5-3 run to trim the deficit to 13-11. Gannon pushed its lead back to 19-12 before a pair of WVSU blocks cut the margin to 19-14. Down 24-19, WVSU forced a Gannon timeout following consecutive kills from Maya Vilmar and Pérez. Audrey Buck added a service ace out of the timeout to bring the Yellow Jackets within 24-22 before Gannon registered the final kill to seal the match.
Match Two: Shippensburg 3, WVSU 0
Shippensburg took an early 5-2 lead in the opening set despite early kills from Pérez and Vilmar. WVSU closed the gap, tying the set at 14-14 before capping a 4-0 run with an Elliott kill to take a 15-14 lead. The Yellow Jackets held a 20-19 edge after consecutive kills from Elliott, but Shippensburg closed on a 6-2 run to claim the opening set.
In the second set, Shippensburg jumped out to a 7-3 lead before WVSU pulled within 7-5. A 7-1 surge by the Raiders stretched the margin to 14-6. The Yellow Jackets cut the deficit to 14-10, but Shippensburg ended the set on an 11-5 run to take a 25-15 victory.
The Raiders scored the first three points of the third set before a Baylee Smith kill and a block by Smith and Vilmar put WVSU on the board. Trailing 21-10, WVSU mounted a three-point run with kills from Giatta Iquinto and Smith, but Shippensburg held on for a 25-16 set win to complete the 3-0 sweep.
WVSU returns to the court Saturday for a pair of matches, opening against Clarion University at 9:30 a.m. before facing California University of Pennsylvania at 1 p.m.
