• Tournament Central | Bracket

BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. -- The top seeds in both divisions advanced in the quarterfinals of the MEC Volleyball Tournament on Tuesday night. 

West Virginia State, the top seed in the South Division, was a 3-0 winner over Charleston. Davis & Elkins, the No. 2 seed in that division, managed to get past West Virginia Wesleyan, 3-0. 

In the North Division, top-seeded Fairmont State dropped the first set against Notre Dame, but won the next three to move on. Wheeling, the No. 2 seed in the North, avenged its loss to West Liberty just days ago with a 3-1 win over the Hilltoppers.

The four teams advance to the semifinals (Friday, March 12) and finals (Saturday, March 13) this weekend at West Virginia State. Friday's first match pits Fairmont State vs. Davis & Elkins at 5 p.m., followed by host West Virginia State against Wheeling at 7:30 p.m.

West Virginia State 3, Charleston 0 | Final Stats
INSTITUTE, W.Va. -- West Virginia State handled Charleston in straight-sets, 25-16, 25-8 and 25-9, to move on to the MEC Tournament Semifinals. 

WVSU hit an impressive .323 on the night in the win. Meanwhile, UC hit just .010 in the match. The Yellow Jackets hammered home 43 kills. 

Jenna Dufresne led the way with 13 kills, while Gabrielle Bullock added 11. Peri Martin handed out 37 assists and Alex Darby came up with 17 digs. 

Jaxin Melby and Rachel Phelan each had four kills for UC. Melby also had a team-high eight digs. 

Davis & Elkins 3, West Virginia Wesleyan 0 | Final Stats
ELKINS, W.Va. -- Davis & Elkins won three close sets against West Virginia Wesleyan, 25-22, 25-22, 25-23, to advance to the MEC Tournament Semifinals on Friday.

The two teams split their regular season matchups and were separated by just eight total points on the night. D&E had just two more kills (49-47), two fewer errors (15-13) and had a slightly higher hitting percentage to make the difference (.288-.250).

The Senators got a lift from Molly Jandris, who had 15 kills and hitting .414, while also recording three blocks. Macie Magallon had 10 kills with six digs and served up a pair of aces. Brilane Manchego tallied 42 assists. 

WVWC was led by 14 kills from Emily Doyle. Autumn Morehouse had 20 digs and Maddi Carpenter had 41 assists. 

Fairmont State 3, Notre Dame 1 | Final Stats
FAIRMONT, W.Va. -- Fairmont State dropped the first set of the night, but battled back to take the next three to post a 3-1 (21-25, 25-15, 25-22, 25-8) win over Notre Dame on Tuesday night at Joe Retton Arena.

With the win, Fairmont State will now take on Davis & Elkins on Friday evening at 5 p.m.

NDC came out hot in the first set hitting down 13 kills and committing just three errors to take the first set 25-21. Fairmont State then got on track in the second set hitting .310 to even the match at 1-1. Julia DiPaola recorded half of Fairmont State's 12 kills in that set. 

In the pivotal third set, the match was tied at 17-17, 18-18, 19-19, 20-20, 21-21 and 22-22. FSU took advantage of an attack error to move in front, and then Bryce Knapp had a key ace to give Fairmont State the set point. Madison Chapman had the decisive point to put FSU up 2-1 in the match. 

Fairmont State scored 11 of the first 14 points in the fourth set to build a lead that could not be overcome. FSU had 18 kills in the final set and only allowed three for Notre Dame. Fairmont State won by the final margin 25-8 to take the match. 

DiPaoloa had 24 kills to lead Fairmont State, and Chapman and Keara Lewis each finished with 12 more. Knapp came up with 17 digs, as did Lilianna Keber. Keber also had a team-high 33 assists, and Kelsey Moeller also had 21 assists to go with 13 digs. 

Kelsie Palmer led Notre Dame with 14 kills. Amelia Kaeberlein notched 18 digs.  

Wheeling 3, West Liberty 1 | Final Stats
WHEELING, W.Va. -- Wheeling avenged a 3-1 loss just days ago with a 3-1 win of its own on Tuesday night in the MEC Tournament Semifinals at the McDonough Center. The Cardinals won by scores of 25-21, 20-25, 25-15 and 25-22.

Wheeling, the seven-time MEC Tournament champion, will now take on West Virginia State on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.

After the Cards took the first set, West Liberty had 17 kills against just three errors to even the match. Wheeling, though, regrouped in the third set and never trailed to regain the 2-1 lead. Wheeling was able to hold off West Liberty in the fourth set that saw eight ties and three lead changes and win 25-22. 

Audrey Francis stood tall for Wheeling in the win recording 43 digs. Lexi Smith hit .278 and had 17 kills to lead the offense, and also was in on four blocks on defense. Lexi Reinert had 16 kills and just one attack error. Karly Niesen handed out 53 assists on the night. 

Katelynn Fritz paced WLU with 16 kills on the night. Madison Clayton notched 12 kills and had four blocks. Nyla Setla had 29 digs.