Women's Volleyball 9/23/2016 8:22:00 PM Derrick Blyberg, Sports Information Director

Urbana Cruises Past West Liberty in League Opener

Box Score
URBANA, Ohio - The Urbana University volleyball team breezed through the opening set at the Grimes Center Friday night, and then came from behind in the next two in order to claim victory over West Liberty in the conference opener for the Blue Knights. The final scores were 25-12, 25-23 and 25-22 in Urbana's favor.

With the win, Urbana improved to .500 on the year with an overall record of 7-7 and 1-0 start in the Mountain East Conference. West Liberty fell to 8-8 overall and 0-3 in conference matches.

Mikaela Beck led UU with 14 kills, followed by Madison Davis with a season-high 11 kills for the second straight match. Aleese Butler also reached double digits with 10 kills. Katlynn Dunlap secured a team-high 14 digs on defense, while Brianna Burkhalter filled in at libero with 12 digs. Emilee Skerbetz played tough in the middle by getting a hand on four blocks. At setter, Alyssa Myers registered 26 assists and five kills.

In the opening set, UU jumped out to a quick lead after a Myers ace made it 7-2. The Blue Knights then worked their way to a 15-8 advantage on two kills from Butler and a few Hilltopper miscues. Then, UU put the first set out of reach with another burst of points to make it 21-9. Myers won the first set on another service ace, which came after a Davis kill to set up the point.

The Blue Knights hit a match-best .360 in the first set while the visitors went negative.

In set number two, Urbana fell behind 11-5 but never gave in as it fought back to tie the set at 13-13. Back-to-back kills from Beck and Davis made it 13-12 and then Burkhalter's ace evened the score.

From there, the teams went back and forth with seven tied scores. West Liberty gained control with a 23-22 lead on a UU ball-handling error, but the Blue Knights charged back with three consecutive points. Davis recorded back-to-back kills and then Beck ended it on another spike.

UU persevered again in the third set, coming back from a deficits of 4-1, 15-11 and 19-15. Veterans Dunlap and Butler brought UU back, combining for five kills to even the score at 20-20. That gave UU all the momentum as three kills from Beck helped guide the home team to the win.

UU has a short rest before hosting sixth-ranked Wheeling Jesuit tomorrow in Grimes. Match start time is slated for 5 p.m. ET, following the UU home football game.

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Players Mentioned

#19 Mikaela Beck: OH; 5' 10"; Senior

#9 Brianna Burkhalter: DS; 5' 4"; Junior

#8 Aleese Butler: MH/RS; 5' 10"; Junior

#14 Madison Davis: OH/MH; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#20 Katlynn Dunlap: OH; 5' 9"; Junior

#2 Emilee Skerbetz: MH; 5' 11"; Freshman

#3 Alyssa Myers: S; 5' 10"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

#19 Mikaela Beck
: 5' 10"; Senior
: OH

#9 Brianna Burkhalter
: 5' 4"; Junior
: DS

#8 Aleese Butler
: 5' 10"; Junior
: MH/RS

#14 Madison Davis
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: OH/MH

#20 Katlynn Dunlap
: 5' 9"; Junior
: OH

#2 Emilee Skerbetz
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: MH

#3 Alyssa Myers
: 5' 10"; Freshman
: S