CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Three hitters had double-digit kills as the University of Charleston volleyball team claimed its fifth-straight win with a 3-1 decision over Fairmont State on senior night at Eddie King Gym.

Malleri Hardison (Uniontown, PA ) led the Charleston (15-16, 8-5) offensive attack with 13 kills and eight digs, but teammates Lora Goss (Birmingham, AL) and Cara Hibbs-Leyva (San Diego, CA) were not far behind with 12 kills apiece in the contest. Also for the Golden Eagles, recent hitting threat Brittany Bills accumulated an outstanding .421 hitting percentage on her way to eight kills in just 19 attempts.

The two teams were even in the first two sets at Charleston took set one 25-21 behind a narrow attack percentage edge of .255 to the Fighting Falcons' .205. Set number two proved to be a nail biter as the teams continued to play even across the board with each making five point comeback efforts in the set. UC finally was able to take advantage of Fairmont State's 11 errors in the set to slip away 30-28.

FSU responded with a 16 kill third set that saw the visitors run out to leads of 10 and 12 points on two separate occasions. The Golden Eagles battled back behind consecutive service aces by Kelsey Eby (Portland, OR), but the comeback would fall short as the Fighting Falcons managed to hang on down the stretch for a 25-20 victory.

After it seemed that Fairmont State was going to claw back into the match UC rallied behind the hot-hand of Hardison in game four. A block by Goss and Hardison combined with another ace by Eby put Charleston ahead 9-3 before FSU took a timeout in an effort to regroup.

The short break did not assist Fairmont State in finding a way to cool the offensive game plan of the Golden Eagles in game four as the home advantage quickly ballooned to 13-4. FSU made its final run of the night to pull within 17-11 before a Hardison kill handed possession back to Eby at the service line. For the second-straight contest UC rallied behind Eby's serves for five straight points (22-14). Bills put the final touches on the match with a game ending slam to secure the 25-15 win and continue Charleston's climb up the WVIAC rankings.

Katie Williams (Gettysburg, PA) and Eby continued to be a dangerous combination in directing the University of Charleston offensive scheme as Williams finished the evening with 25 assists, while Eby trailed just behind with 20. They both booked double-doubles on the night with 12 and 17 digs, respectively.

Defensively, Ashley Douglas (Ontario, Canada) led Charleston with 19 digs to go along with two service aces.

The win improves UC to 8-5 in the West Virginia Conference to hold a fifth place standing with one conference game remaining. The Golden Eagles will look to secure a home game in the first round of the WVIAC Tournament when the team travels to face Bluefield State on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 6:00 pm in the regular season finale.