Frostburg State University Athletics

FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State Volleyball Team picked up a home win, defeating West Virginia Wesleyan in five sets on Friday evening to start Homecoming Weekend.

WVWC started the match by taking six of the first nine points before a trio of errors let FSU tie the set at 6-6. The sides traded back-and-forth, with some Wesleyan errors preceding freshman Judy Steffens and a senior Maya Johnson combining for a trio of kills to take a 16-12 lead. After WVWC went on a short 5-1 run to tie things at 17, FSU hit right back, taking advantage of a kill from senior Grace Yocham and a service ace from junior Emery Kuebler, with a pair of errors from the visitors at the line giving way to a 22-18 advantage. Wesleyan was able to turn things around from that point, going on a 6-1 run to suddenly take a 24-23 lead. Steffens and Johnson each found the floor to fend off a pair of set points, but Bhrooke Axe put down the final two kills for WVWC to take the opening set 27-25. 

Although West Virginia Wesleyan got the first point of set two, Frostburg responded immediately with five unanswered and seven of the next eight to leap ahead 7-2, as Yocham knocked down three kills with Johnson tacking on a fourth, while sophomore Alliyah McNair put in a pair of aces at the line. FSU kept up their momentum, as Yocham, McNair, and senior Raegan Philips each netted a score, while freshman Gabrielle Morris joined in on the action with a couple spikes and a combo block with Yocham to lead 15-8. Philips then took over defensively, joining McNair and Johnson on a pair of blocks, then freshman Rhea Shetty snuck over a kill, McNair found the floor, and senior Alyssa Stanton put down an ace to take a commanding 22-12 lead. Wesleyan looked for a late push in taking four of the next five but attacks from Johnson and Yocham sealed Frostburg's 25-16 set win. 

The opening rallies in set three came in bunches for both sides, as WVWC took the first three points, followed by five from FSU and another pair from each side for the hosts to lead 7-5, with Johnson having a pair of aces and McNair finding the floor while joining Philips on a block. Looking to establish momentum, Frostburg hit three of four, with Yocham and McNair scoring either side of the latter having another block with Philips, however three straight errors evened the score at 10-10. Taking advantage of the miscues, West Virginia Wesleyan went on a 12-4 run to take a four-point lead at 19-15. FSU responded with a 6-1 run, as the blocks of Philips and McNair continued to give the visitors problems in sneaking back ahead 21-20. The Frostburg momentum halted there, as WVWC hit three in a row and five of the final six points to take the go-ahead set 25-22.

More traded scoring runs began the fourth set, as Kuebler had a nice skip attack while Johnson served two aces, as McNair added a kill to take a narrow 6-5 lead. Seeking to close out the match, Wesleyan responded with a 6-2 stretch that put them up 11-7. Frostburg had other ideas, however, going on an astounding 10-1 run, with Stanton serving two more aces, Johnson and Morris recording kills, and a Philips-Johnson stuff putting the score at 17-12. West Virginia Wesleyan responded with four straight points to pull within one but Frostburg hit right back with Steffens finding the floor followed by back-to-back WVWC errors. After two in a row from the visitors, McNair powered two spikes down while freshman Miranda Ball scored an ace in grinding out a 25-20 set win to take the match into a deciding fifth set.

In front of the cheering home crowd, Frostburg put up the first two points on a McNair kill and Ball ace, however a WVWC kill and three errors allowed the visitors to quickly take a 4-2 lead. Keeping Wesleyan within touching distance, kills from Yocham, Steffens, Johnson and Morris held the deficit at one until a block and ace from WV Wesleyan put them up 11-8. From there, a WVWC error at the line was followed by Ball putting down a serve, with Philips joining Yocham and McNair on blocks to suddenly go ahead 13-12. Wesleyan tied things up on a kill and looked to take the lead but an attack error was followed by a Johnson kill to secure the fifth set 15-13 and take the match 3-2. 

Yocham (12) and Johnson (11) each recorded double-digit kills, while Philips (10) and McNair (7) both set career highs in blocks. Kuebler hit a double-double with a team-high 11 digs and 19 assists, while Ball had 10 in the former category and Shetty 13 in the latter.

With the win, Frostburg improves to 6-13 as West Virginia Wesleyan falls to 8-13. FSU is back at home on a quick turnaround, playing Saturday, October 17, at 2 PM against Glenville State for their Homecoming Weekend conclusion. For more information, please visit frostburgsports.com.