INSTITUTE – With just one week left in the regular season, the West Virginia Wesleyan Lady Bobcat volleyball team picked up a much-needed Mountain East Conference victory today with a 3-1 road win over West Virginia State.

Wesleyan won the first two sets by 25-20 and 27-25 scores before narrowly dropping the third set by a 28-26 score. They rebounded to take the fourth set by a 25-22 score.

The win gave the Lady Bobcats a series sweep over the Yellow Jackets.

Wesleyan had lost six of their last seven conference games and had fallen out of the top eight in the league standings. The top eight teams earn a spot in the upcoming MEC Tournament.

The win kept the Lady Bobcats in the race for a play-off spot as they hold down the ninth seed. They have a chance to gain more ground Tuesday when they visit Glenville State, who is winless on the season.

Wesleyan trailed 12-10 in the first set, but a kill by Ebonie Hicks started a 9-3 run for the Lady Bobcats as they took a 19-15 lead.

Wesleyan maintained a four-point lead at 24-20 and kill by Madison Cooper gave Wesleyan the first set win.

In set two, Wesleyan scored the first four points but West Virginia State tallied the next five for an early 5-4 lead.

The set went back-and-fourth with it being tied at 25-25.

A kill by Hicks made it 26-25 and an attack error gave Wesleyan the 27-25 win.

Wesleyan led the third set by 7-3 and 16-11 scores but couldn't finish off the Yellow Jackets.

With the set tied at 26-26, West Virginia State scored the final two points for the 28-26 win.

The final set saw an amazing comeback from the Lady Bobcats. They were down by an 18-12 score but rallied for eight straight points to grab a 20-18 lead.

A kill by Hannah King ended the set in Wesleyan's favor, 25-22.

King had a team-high 17 kills while Leah Blend and Cooper each had 13.

Katlyn Buckland had a game-high 56 assists.

Emily Doyle had three aces to go along with 18 digs.

Hannah Bradford had a game-high 34 digs.

The loss dropped West Virginia State to 6-8 in the MEC and 14-14 overall.

Wesleyan improved to 5-8 in the league and 11-17 overall.

The Lady Bobcats will visit Glenville State Tuesday for a 7 p.m. start.

They will return home Friday night when they host Shepherd on Senior Night.