By Jalyn Bolyard, Online Editor
West Liberty University’s volleyball team will be looking to finish the last stretch of its regular season play this weekend on a high note with two inner conference match-ups.
Led by Head Coach Kayla Mull, the Hilltoppers are 19-8 for the season with a 7-4 Mountain East Conference record. The team is also sporting a notable 8-2 record at home and will look to add more to it starting this weekend.
This weekend begins a five home match stretch for the Hilltoppers after finishing up a six away match stretch, concluding with a win over Slippery Rock University on Tuesday, Oct. 23. Ending the season with several home matches can help progress the team’s impressive season even more.
The first match-up of the weekend will be against the Mountain Lions of Concord University (5-21 overall, 2-9 MEC) at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 26.
A Concord team leader to watch out for offensively will be senior Ellie Lawrence, who sports 204 kills for the season so far.
The second match-up will be Senior Day for the Hilltoppers. The team is set to play against the Cavaliers of University of Virginia’s College at Wise (5-19 overall, 2-8 MEC as of Oct. 25) at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27.
On the defensive side, a Cavalier to look out for will be junior Morgan Milligan, who leads the team with 349 digs. On the offensive side, sophomore Madelyn Lawrence leads the team with 183 kills.
Last season, the Hilltoppers won one and lost one when it came to these two teams. WLU lost in a four-set match to Concord on Nov. 3, 2017. However, the next day, the team rallied back to shutout UVa-Wise, winning all three sets. Facing each team only once, both matches were away games for the Hilltoppers.
The Hilltoppers, however, have its own court stars to look out for statistic wise as of Oct. 25.
Senior Raimey Benson leads the team with 239 kills and 268 points while junior Olivia Baumhoer sports 231 kills and 258 points. The team also has strong defensive members, including sophomore Madison Clayton with 90 blocks and junior Kailee Cunningham with 483 digs.
Overall, the Hilltoppers have had an incredible season thus far and hopefully will wrap it up on a high note. The team even made history this week, checking into the No. 10 spot in the first set of the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region rankings of the season. It is the first regional ranking in school history for Mull and her team. New rankings will be released every Wednesday until Nov. 7.
Don’t miss a chance to cheer on the Hilltopper volleyball team as the last regular season matches finish up at home!
The volleyball team will conclude regular season play against Urbana University on Saturday, Nov. 3.
Photo Credit: Hilltoppersports.com
