MEC Volleyball Tournament Quarterfinal Preview: #4N Frostburg State vs #1S West Virginia State

INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The Frostburg State Volleyball team makes their way to the MEC Volleyball Tournament as the No. 4 seed in the North, traveling to face the hosts and the No. 1 seed in the South, West Virginia State on Thursday evening.  
 
How They Got Here: Frostburg enters their second consecutive conference tournament, posting a 11-16 overall record and a 5-9 mark in the MEC.  The Bobcats defeated West Liberty in the team's home regular season finale to secure their spot in the tournament. 
 
West Virginia State was named South Division Champions with a 20-9 overall record and a strong 14-1 record in conference play.  WVSU has won 10 straight games, after their lone MEC loss of the season to Charleston around the mid-way mark of conference play.  The Yellow Jackets took down UC in their regular season finale, giving them the hosting rights of the tournament. 
 
The Matchup: WVSU holds a 5-0 record in the matchup between the two teams, as Frostburg is still seeking their first-ever victory over the Yellow Jackets.  West Virginia State has taken all five meetings between the two with scores of 3-0. 
 
The Players: Frostburg is guided by a duo of freshmen that received spots on the All-MEC Freshman Team, in Dani Kunkle and Emery Kuebler.  Kunkle, also landing All-MEC Honorable Mention rights, leads the team in kills with 266 for a team-high 307 points, while also providing 235 digs on the defensive end.  Kuebler, FSU's setter, has dished out a total of 758 assists on the season so far, standing fourth in the conference.  Senior AJ Thompson, junior Amanda Knieper, and sophomore Paige Mock are other names to look out for up around the net, all rounding out the 2-3-4 spots in most kills on the team.  Knieper holds a team-high 44 service aces, while Mock leads the block party for the Bobcats with 82.  Senior Fiona Gonzalez Medina is the team-leading libero, providing for the team on the defensive effort with a team-high 354 digs. 
 
West Virginia State is a very well-rounded team, seeing six players receive All-MEC Awards, starting with MEC Player of the Year Kiersten Eggleton.  Eggleton provides on both sides of the net, leading the team in assists with 941 for second-most in the conference, while also seeing 237 digs, 62 kills, 33 blocks, and 28 service aces.  Hannah Steele joins Eggleton on the All-MEC First Team, leading the Yellow Jackets in kills with 322, while also providing 209 digs and 36 blocks on the year so far.  WVSU placed four players on the All-MEC Second Team, starting with Valencia Wilder and Maureen Mathews, with the former contributing 97 blocks and 182 kills during the regular season, while the latter put up 298 kills, 106 digs, and 54 blocks.  Rounding out the squad and accolades for West Virginia State are Morgan Caba who saw a team-high in digs (344) and service aces (53), and Baby Moleni who added 204 kills, 48 blocks, and 41 digs to help on all cylinders.  
 
The Rest of the Field: To set the rest of the playing field, the No. 2 in the South, Charleston, will play the No. 3 seed of the North, Fairmont State, to kickoff the tournament.  The champions of the North, Wheeling, are set to face West Virginia Wesleyan, who sits as No. 4 in the South.  West Liberty, the No. 2 in the North, will play against Concord, the No. 3 seed of the South. 
 
2024 MEC Volleyball Tournament Seedings
NORTH: #1 Wheeling, #2 West Liberty, #3 Fairmont State, and #4 Frostburg State
SOUTH: #1 West Virginia State, #2 Charleston, #3 Concord, and #4 West Virginia Wesleyan
 
Thursday, November 21 - QUARTERFINALS
#3N Fairmont State vs #2S Charleston – 12 PM
#4S West Virginia Wesleyan vs #1N Wheeling – 2:30 PM
#4N Frostburg State vs #1S West Virginia State – 5 PM
#3S Concord vs #2N West Liberty – 7:30 PM
 
Friday, November 22 - SEMIFINALS
Winner of WVSU/Frostburg vs Winner of WLU/Concord – 5 PM
Winner of UC/Fairmont vs Winner of WVWC/Wheeling – 7:30 PM
 
Saturday, November 23 – CHAMPIONSHIP
MEC Championship Game – 6 PM
 
All games played at Walker Convocation Center in Institute, WV