*Tournament Central

WHEELING, W.Va. -- The top two seeds advanced, but the other two quarterfinal matches provided upsets in the Mountain East Conference Volleyball Tournament.

Top-seeded Wheeling Jesuit and second-seeded Charleston each won by 3-0 scores, while sixth-seeded West Liberty upended third-seeded Shepherd 3-0, and fifth-seeded got past fourth-seeded Fairmont State, 3-0.

The Golden Eagles will now take on West Liberty in the semifinals on Friday at 5 p.m., followed by the Cardinals against the Blue Knights at 7:30 p.m. All matches will be streamed online at MountainEast.tv.

#6 West Liberty def. #3 Shepherd, 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-21) | Final Stats
West Liberty Postgame | Shepherd Postgame
WHEELING, W.Va. -- Sixth-seeded West Liberty upset third-seeded Shepherd, 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-21), in the MEC Volleyball Tournament Quarterfinals. 

The Hilltoppers came out quickly breaking a 2-2 tie with five-straight points and never looking back to take the first set, 25-21. WLU got an early 4-0 lead in the second set, but Shepherd battled back take a 13-9 lead. West Liberty chipped away at the lead and trailing 21-20, scored the final five points to come away with the victory in the set. Kills by Raimey Benson and Amanda Leonard and a service ace from Kendall Souder in that stretch keyed the run. 

A 5-0 run for WLU in the third set broke a 5-5 tie, and West Liberty would not trail the rest of the way to close out the match. 

Benson finished with 15 kills and hit .256 in the match. Kailee Cunningham helped with 19 digs for the 'Toppers, and Amanda Leonard dished out 25 assists. Olivia Baumhoer was in on six blocks for WLU.

Christina Jackson and Amanda Snowden each had nine kills to lead Shepherd. Four players had double-digit kills led by Cambriea Hill and Imani Major who each had 15. Jessica Karcz had 33 assists to go with 12 digs. 


#2 Charleston def. #7 Concord, 3-0 (25, 18, 25-15, 25-16) | Final Stats
Charleston Postgame | Concord Postgame 
WHEELING, W.Va. -- Charleston weathered a tough first set from Concord and rolled in the next two close out the Mountain Lions and advance to the MEC Tournament Semifinals.

The first set saw eight lead changes and Concord was within two at 19-17, but the Golden Eagles won the next three points, two coming from errors by CU to take control of the set. Charleston closed out the first set winning 25-18. 

UC got off to a commanding 7-1 lead on its way to a 25-15 win in set two. The Golden Eagles broke away from Concord midway through the third set to close out the match, 25-16. 

Tori Clark had 14 kills and eight digs to help lead UC to the win. Carly Granger and Megan Mourier each added 10. Chloe Massaro had 26 assists and Claire Lambert added 14. Kelsey Matusic added 15 kills. 

Concord was led by six kills apiece from Brooke Heck and Emily Ellis. Casey Mandeville had 12 assists and Lindsay Maddox had a game-high 16 digs. 

#5 Urbana def. #4 Fairmont State, 3-0 (25-14, 27-25, 25-10) | Final Stats
Urbana Postgame | Fairmont State Postgame
WHEELING, W.Va.—Fifth-seeded Urbana came out firing against fourth-seeded Fairmont State and never looked back on its way to a 3-0 (25-14, 27-25, 25-19) win in MEC Volleyball Tournament Quarterfinal action.
 
In the first set, the Blue Knights clung to a 16-13 lead before a 7-0 run left Fairmont State trailing 23-13. An Urbana attack error gave the Falcons one more point before an attack error and service ace secured the 25-14 set win for the Blue Knights.
 
The second set featured nine ties and four lead changes with Urbana having the last word. Trailing 25-24, kills by Madison Davis and Katlynn Dunlap along with a Fairmont State attack error proved to be all the Blue Knights would need to secure the momentum for good. 
 
The Falcons jumped to a 6-4 lead at the start of set three before another run by the Blue Knights left Fairmont State looking to bounce back from a 15-9 deficit.  Urbana held on to the lead for the remainder of the contest, securing the win after a Falcon error. 
 
Dunlap paced the Blue Knights with 14 kills and 18 digs followed by Cecily Clark with eight.  Deandra Atwood dished out 16 assists with Courtney Nieson chipping in 10 digs in the victory.  Mackenzie Harrison led the effort for the Falcons with 16 kills.  Megan Gore tallied 11 assists with Megan Clerico hauling in 19 digs in the setback.

#1 Wheeling Jesuit def. #8 West Virginia Wesleyan, 3-0 (25-12, 25-14, 25-11) | Final Stats
Wheeling Jesuit Postgame | West Virginia Wesleyan
WHEELING, W.Va. -- Top-seeded Wheeling Jesuit had 44 kills and just six errors in a 3-0 win over West Virginia Wesleyan on Thursday night in the MEC Tournament Quarterfinals.

The Cards hit .460 in the match and had 50 digs and 12 blocks in the victory. WJU held the Bobcats to just a .078 hitting percentage. 

Wheeling Jesuit never trailed in either the first or second set, and hit home 17 kills in the second set with no errors. The Bobcats started strong in the third set, but a 10-0 run broke a 4-4 tie and gave WJU control of the set and match. 

Cassie Meyer led the Cardinals with 11 kills while also contributing eight digs. Stephanie Sylvester directed the offense with 37 assists, and Audrey Francis had a game-high 12 digs. Sylvester and Meyer each had three aces on the night. 

Madison Cooper led WVWC with seven kills, while Leah Blend and Ebonie Hicks each had six. Katlyn Buckland had 25 assists.