WHEELING, W.Va. – The West Virginia State University women's volleyball team closed their nonconference slate with a pair of losses Saturday at the final day of the Wheeling/West Liberty crossover, falling to Clarion University 3-2 in their first match of the day before a 3-0 loss to California University of Pennsylvania to close the day.
Maya Vilmar had 12 kills in the Clarion match, while Baylee SMith had nine, along with two block assists, four digs and a pair of service aces. Giatta Iquinto handed out 11 assists against the Golden Eagles. Against the Vulcans, Vilmar had five kills, while Lilly Adkins had 18 digs for the Yellow Jackets.
Match One: Clarion 3, WVSU 2
The Golden Eagles scored the first five points of the set en route to a 25-8 set win. Set two started much better for the Yellow Jackets, taking an early 5-2 lead after three straight points, with Vilmar getting two kills and a solo block. WVSU extended the lead to 11-6 after scoring four consecutive points, including two service aces and a kill from Smith.
After the Golden Eagles pulled to within 15-13, WVSU went on a 5-0 scoring run, eventually taking a 24-18 lead. Clarion then scored four straight before Milena Jansson ended the set with a kill to even the match at one.
Set three was close early, with Clarion taking a 4-3 lead and scoring four straight to take an 8-3 advantage. The Golden Eagles eventually worked their way to a 21-13 lead before the Yellow Jackets scored five of the next six points to pull to within 22-18, though Clarion eventually won the set, 25-19.
Clarion took an early 4-0 lead, though WVSU quickly scored three points to stay within striking distance. The Golden Eagles held the lead until WVSU used a 6-0 scoring run to take a 15-14 lead, eventually making it 17-14 before the Golden Eagles stopped the scoring run. After the Golden Eagles took a 23-22 lead, the Yellow Jackets scored the final three points, with Jansson getting a solo block and an assisted block along with Gabrielle Elliott to force a fifth and deciding set.
WVSU scored first in the fifth set before a 5-0 Golden Eagles scoring run gave them the lead. The Yellow Jackets were able to fight back, pulling to within 13-12 before Clarion scored the final two points to win the set 15-12, and taking the match 3-0.
Match Two: Cal (Pa.) 3, WVSU 0
Set one was close early, with WVSU taking a 3-2 lead before the Vulcans took an 8-5 lead at the start of a lengthy scoring stretch, taking a 25-9 win in the opening set. The Vulcans took an early lead in set two, with WVSU able to keep things close until the Vulcans went on a 5-1 scoring run to take a 13-8 lead.
Following a timeout, the Yellow Jackets started to rally, scoring three in a row to trim the lead to 13-11 thanks in part to an assisted block by Elliott and Jansson. After the Yellow Jackets pulled to within 17-14, the Vulcans closed the set on an 8-1 scoring run to win it 25-15, taking a 2-0 match lead.
WVSU scored the first two points of the set on an Elliott kill and a solo block by Jansson, though the Vulcans worked their way back to take a 12-6 lead. Following a WVSU timeout, Elliott had another kill, followed by a Vulcans attack error to bring the Yellow Jackets back to within 12-8.
Coming out of a media timeout, the Vulcans scored four straight before Jansson came up with a pair of kills for the Yellow Jackets, but the Vulcans ended the set 25-15, taking the match 3-0.
The Yellow Jackets will open Mountain East Conference play on Friday when they return to Wheeling to take on the Cardinals. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.
