DUNBAR, W.Va. — Fairmont State volleyball swept West Virginia State 3-0 on Friday at Walker Convocation Center, winning 25-22, 25-22, 25-13. The Falcons hit .333 with 47 kills, while the Yellow Jackets finished at .118 with 36 kills and 22 errors.
The Falcons held off a late Yellow Jackets push to take the first set 25-22. Early in the first, the Falcons moved in front with a block by
Kailyn Connelly and
Josie Nobbe and later built a 12-6 lead as the Yellow Jackets committed three straight attack errors during
Belle DeVall's serve. The Falcons added separation at 14-9, winning four straight points on Grace Devall's serve behind two Nobbe kills, a Devall ace and another Yellow Jackets attack error.
After the lead reached 21-10 on kills by
Averi Martin, Connelly and Nobbe, the Yellow Jackets won seven straight points and eventually got within 23-22 before
Zoe Ringer's kill from
Janai Turner gave the Falcons set point and a final attack error closed the set.
The Falcons won the second set 25-22, finishing on
Kailyn Connelly's kill from
Belle DeVall after the Yellow Jackets cut a 24-20 deficit to 24-22. Early on, the set stayed level through 8-8 before
Baylie Ostvig put the Falcons ahead with a kill, but the Yellow Jackets answered with four straight points to move in front 12-9.
The Falcons responded with an
Averi Martin kill, a block by Nobbe and
Natalie Zemba, and an
Elena Thompson kill to tie it at 12-12, then later moved from a 14-14 tie to a 16-14 lead on back-to-back points capped by a Yellow Jackets attack error. After the Yellow Jackets were within 18-17,
Zoe Ringer, Ostvig and a Yellow Jackets bad set helped the Falcons stretch the score to 21-17, and kills by Zemba, Nobbe and Connelly carried the set to its 25-22 finish.
The Falcons broke open the third set after a 14-11 lead, winning seven of the next eight rallies and finishing with a 25-13 set victory. At the beginning of the set, Thompson and Nobbe delivered kills to help the Falcons start ahead 2-0, and Nobbe,
Averi Martin, Connelly, Ostvig and Zemba added points as the Falcons stayed in front through the middle of the set.
Thompson's serving turn produced four straight Falcons points, including a Nobbe kill, a Zemba-
Averi Martin block and an
Averi Martin kill that moved the score to 18-11. After the Yellow Jackets got one point back, the Falcons answered with another Martin kill and two Yellow Jackets attack errors, then closed the set behind a Connelly kill and an
Alexa Martin-Connelly block.
Nobbe led the Falcons with 12 kills while hitting .500 and added two block assists. Connelly finished with 11 kills on a .500 hitting percentage and recorded four block assists. Grace Devall collected 18 digs and added four assists.
Belle DeVall posted a team-high 23 assists with four digs.
Fairmont State (18-4, 7-0) wraps up its road trip on Saturday, October 10 at the University of Charleston. Match time is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.
