FAIRMONT, W.Va. — The Fairmont State University volleyball team (29-5) won the match 3-0 over Glenville State (18-13) in the Mountain East Conference Volleyball Championship Semifinals. The Falcons hit .269 with 42 kills and held the Pioneers to a .051 hitting percentage.
Fairmont State answered Glenville State's opening point with eight straight points, including seven consecutive service points from
Elena Thompson, to take an 8-1 lead behind kills from
Averi Martin,
Natalie Zemba,
Belle DeVall and
Josie Nobbe. The Pioneers worked back to 9-6, but the Falcons responded with kills from
Alexa Martin and
Kailyn Connelly to move back ahead 12-7.
Through the middle of the set, Zemba,
Averi Martin, Nobbe and Connelly helped the Falcons keep converting sideouts as the Pioneers continued to pressure. The Falcons closed from 21-17 with a Pioneers service error, a Zemba kill, an
Ashton Henrich ace and Thompson's final kill to finish the set 25-18.
The Falcons used a six-point run in the middle of the second set to turn an 8-7 edge into a 14-7 advantage, with
Janai Turner serving through five straight points that included three Connelly kills, a Turner ace and a Thompson kill. Early in the second, the Falcons answered a 4-2 deficit behind kills from Nobbe and
Averi Martin, then moved ahead 8-5 on kills by
Alexa Martin and Connelly and a block by Martin and Connelly.
The Pioneers cut the margin to 14-9, but the Falcons kept adding sideouts and points through kills from
Alexa Martin, Thompson,
Averi Martin and Nobbe. Connelly and
Averi Martin combined on a block to make it 22-15, Connelly added another kill, Turner served her second ace of the set, and
Alexa Martin closed the 25-17 set win with a kill.
Fairmont State closed the third set with an 8-0 run from 17-11, finishing the set on
Zoe Ringer's serve and winning 25-11. Nearly midway through the set, the Pioneers tied the set at 7-7, but the Falcons rebuilt separation with kills from Zemba and Thompson while taking advantage of Pioneers errors to move ahead 17-10.
After a service error made it 17-11, the Falcons got the serve back on a service error by the Pioneers, then Ringer served seven straight points. Nobbe had back-to-back kills during the closing stretch, Ringer added consecutive aces, and
Alexa Martin and Nobbe combined on the final block-assisted point to complete the set.
Connelly recorded nine kills, hit .333 and added three block assists for a team-high 10.5 points. Nobbe matched the team lead with nine kills and added three digs and two block assists. Ringer finished with a team-high 19 assists and added two service aces. Grace Devall collected a team-high 13 digs and added three assists.
Fairmont State heads to the MEC Championship match for the first time since the Spring of 2021. The Falcons will face Wheeling University on Friday, November 13 at 7:00 p.m. inside of Joe Retton Arena.
