WHEELING, W.Va. — The Fairmont State women's volleyball team defeated Wheeling 3-0 on Tuesday at Alma Grace McDonough Center, winning by set scores of 25-19, 25-16 and 25-8. The Falcons finished with 42 kills and a .239 hitting percentage, while the Cardinals had 22 kills and hit -.058. The Falcons are 13-4 overall and 2-0 in MEC play, while the Cardinals are 6-6 and 1-1.
The Falcons took the opening set 25-19, closing with four straight points after the Cardinals had cut the score to 21-19. The Falcons opened the match quickly with a
Josie Nobbe kill, an
Elena Thompson ace and a block by
Averi Martin and
Alexa Martin during a 4-0 start, then built the lead to 15-9 behind kills from
Alexa Martin,
Averi Martin and Thompson.
Kailyn Connelly helped the Falcons push the advantage to 19-11 with two kills and a block assist alongside
Baylie Ostvig before the Cardinals worked back into the set. The Falcons steadied the finish with an
Alexa Martin kill, an
Averi Martin kill from Grace Devall, a Thompson kill from
Belle DeVall and a final Cardinals attack error to secure the set.
The Falcons flipped the second set after an early 3-1 deficit, with Grace Devall serving four straight points as kills by Connelly,
Averi Martin and Thompson moved the Falcons from trailing 3-2 to leading 6-3. Ostvig added a kill from
Zoe Ringer to make it 10-5, but the Cardinals later cut an 11-6 Falcons lead to 11-10 with a four-point stretch.
Thompson stopped that run with a kill from Ringer, and the Falcons rebuilt the margin behind blocks from
Averi Martin and
Alexa Martin, another
Averi Martin block and a Martin kill for a 15-11 lead. The Falcons pushed the score to 20-14 on a Connelly-Ostvig block and an Ostvig kill from Ringer. After the Cardinals got to 21-16, the Falcons scored the final four points, with
Ashton Henrich serving the last three and Thompson and
Alexa Martin teaming on the final two blocks to close a 25-16 set win.
The Falcons broke the third set open with an eight-point surge from 10-4 to 18-4, starting with a Nobbe kill and continuing through seven straight service points from Nobbe, including kills by Connelly, Ostvig and Thompson plus a Nobbe ace. Early in the set, the Falcons moved in front 3-1 on Thompson's kill, a Nobbe-
Alexa Martin block and an
Averi Martin kill, then turned a 3-2 set into a 9-2 edge with Grace Devall serving through kills from Connelly and Nobbe.
After the Cardinals stopped the longer run at 18-5, the Falcons kept answering with sideout points, as Ostvig added two straight kills and
Alexa Martin and Thompson followed with late kills. Thompson's service ace moved the Falcons to 23-7, and
Averi Martin finished the set with a kill for a 25-8 third-set win.
Thompson led the Falcons with nine kills and 12 digs while adding two service aces and two blocks.
Averi Martin also recorded nine kills, hitting .375 with three total blocks.
Alexa Martin finished with five kills on a .400 hitting percentage and a team-high five total blocks.
Belle DeVall handed out 19 assists and added six digs.
Fairmont State (13-4, 2-0) returns to the Joe Retton Arena on Friday, September 25 to face West Liberty University. The start of the match is set for 7:00 p.m.
