FAIRMONT, W.Va. — The Fairmont State University volleyball team (22-4, 10-0 MEC) defeated West Virginia Wesleyan (8-15, 4-6 MEC) 3-1 on Saturday at Joe Retton Arena, winning by set scores of 22-25, 28-26, 25-17 and 25-14. After dropping the opening set, the Falcons won the next three while hitting .308, .293 and .316 in those sets. The Falcons finished with 62 kills, 79 digs and a 15-5 advantage in total blocks.
The Falcons twice worked back from multi-point deficits in the opening set, tying the set at 19-19 before the Bobcats closed out a 25-22 result. At the start of the set, the Falcons answered an initial exchange with
Elena Thompson's service ace, kills from
Kailyn Connelly,
Natalie Zemba and
Josie Nobbe, and blocks involving Connelly,
Averi Martin,
Alexa Martin and Zemba.
The Bobcats then moved ahead 15-9, but the Falcons cut the deficit to 16-14 with points that included blocks by Zemba and Martin and by Thompson and Zemba. After falling behind 19-15, the Falcons scored four straight on Nobbe's serve, getting an
Alexa Martin kill and a Martin-Zemba block to pull even, but the Bobcats responded late and took the set 25-22.
The Falcons overcame a 5-0 start by the Bobcats and closed out a 28-26 second-set win on a Bobcats attack error. Earlier, kills from
Averi Martin, Nobbe and
Alexa Martin helped the Falcons work back into the set, and a block by Connelly and
Averi Martin cut the deficit to 10-8.
After trailing 15-13, the Falcons moved in front 18-16 behind an
Alexa Martin kill, a Connelly kill and two Bobcats attack errors. The Bobcats later tied the set at 23-23, 24-24, 25-25 and 26-26, but Nobbe,
Elena Thompson and Connelly each answered with late kills before the Falcons finished the set.
The Falcons fell behind 2-0 in the third set, then won the next eight points and carried that early response into a 25-17 set win. Thompson served seven straight points during the surge, adding an ace while Nobbe and Connelly supplied kills and Connelly was involved in multiple blocks with
Averi Martin and Nobbe.
The Falcons kept answering through the middle of the set, including
Natalie Zemba's kill from
Zoe Ringer after the Bobcats closed to 10-6, then pushed the margin to 17-9 behind a Connelly kill, Thompson's second ace and a Nobbe kill from
Belle DeVall. Thompson later delivered back-to-back kills to bring the Falcons to set point, and after the Bobcats scored twice, Thompson finished the set with another kill from DeVall.
The Falcons finished the fourth set by winning the final six points from 19-14, with Thompson, Connelly and
Alexa Martin recording kills before
Kelsea Vandine's service ace closed a 25-14 set win. The Falcons opened the set with three straight points on a Connelly kill, a Thompson ace and an
Averi Martin kill, and Nobbe supplied four early kills as the home side built an 8-4 advantage.
The Falcons kept separating at the net, getting blocks involving Zemba,
Alexa Martin, Connelly and
Averi Martin while
Belle DeVall served during a stretch that moved the score to 14-6. The Bobcats answered with four straight points to cut the margin from 18-9 to 18-13, but Ringer followed with a kill and the Falcons won seven of the final eight rallies to finish the set.
Nobbe led the Falcons with 18 kills and matched the team high with 18.5 points while hitting .326. Thompson also totaled 18.5 points, recording 14 kills, four service aces and 18 digs. Grace Devall collected a team-high 26 digs and added five assists.
Belle DeVall finished with 31 assists and eight digs.
Fairmont State will host Wheeling University on Tuesday, October 20 for an MEC North Division Showdown. Start time is set for 7:00 p.m.
