CHARLESTON, W.Va. — No. 2 Fairmont State advanced to the Mountain East Conference Championship with a hard-fought 4-3 victory over No. 3 West Virginia Wesleyan in Saturday's semifinal matchup.

The Falcons seized early momentum by sweeping doubles play to claim the crucial point. The top pairing of Hope Backx and Lara Smith set the tone with a dominant 6-0 victory, while Maria Fonseca and Stephanie Gopar followed with a 6-3 win at No. 2 to secure the doubles point.

In singles action, Fairmont State needed three wins to clinch the match—and they delivered in key moments. Backx earned a straight-sets victory at No. 2 singles, 6-3, 6-4, giving the Falcons their second point of the day.

After West Virginia Wesleyan responded with wins at No. 3 and No. 4 singles to tighten the match, Laura Maciel stepped up in a pivotal No. 5 contest. She battled to a 6-4, 7-5 win to put Fairmont State on the brink of victory.

The deciding point came from Alara Akgul at No. 6 singles. After dropping the opening set, Akgul rallied in impressive fashion, taking the next two sets 6-1, 6-3 to clinch the match for the Falcons.

Fairmont State will now face the University of Charleston in the MEC Championship on Sunday, May 3. The match is set to start at 3:30 p.m.