Charleston, W.Va.---The No. 19 nationally ranked Wheeling Jesuit volleyball team (33-2), who finished the regular season 14-0 in league play and earned the WVIAC's top seed, opened the 2012 WVIAC Tournament with a 3-0 victory over the eighth seeded Rams of Shepherd University.
 
The Cardinals opened the match by netting the first four points. During the run, Jenna Pew slammed home two kills while Corrin Early blasted home the other two.

The Rams closed the gap, pulling within one at 5-4 on an attack error by WJU, but the Cardinals slowly increased the margin to seven on an ace by Allissa Ware at 14-7. With the score at 14-10, Rachel Caja hammered down a kill, giving WJU the serve. Madison Strall dropped back and connected on two aces, in addition to a kill by Abby Wietrzykowski and an attack error by the Rams for a 19-10 margin.

WJU closed out the set with a 25-13 victory when Ware took a pass from Strall and found the court.

The Cardinals jetted to an 11-3 lead in the second set. Three aces by WJU and four attack errors by the Rams enabled the No. 1 seed to earn the advantage. However, SU fought back, pulling within five at 17-12. During the Rams' 5-1 spurt, all five points were generated on miscues by WJU. Kasey Mercier tallied three straight serves before Meg Kenny's forced the Cardinals into mistakes.

With the score at 23-14, Ware took a pass from Strall and another from Pew to promptly end the set with back-to-back kills.

The teams battled back-and-forth through the early part of the third frame. Valerie Bour's ace brought the Rams within one at 11-10. Back-to-back errors by SU gave the Cardinals a 13-10 edge. At 13-11, WJU reeled off four straight points, including an ace by Makenzie Ripley and a kill by Jenna Pew.

Kills by Ware and Strall pushed the advantage to 23-15. An error by the Rams and an ace by Ware completed the match at 25-15.

For the contest, Ware led the victors with 10 kills while Pew registered eight. Ashley Remlinger and Wietrzykowski each had five. Strall paced the offense with 21 assists while Pew added 11. Strall was solid, adding three aces while Ripley chipped in a pair. Ripley led the back line with a team-best 20 digs.

In the loss, Meg Kenny posted a team-best six kills. Kasey Mercier and Melani Lewis each notched four. Sara Michael distributed a team-high 16 assists. Defensively, Lauren Gardner guided the squad with five digs. Eight of the nine players had at least one dig in the match. Kayla Motheral was in on a match-high three blocks.

The Cardinals square off against the Falcons of Fairmont State at 2 p.m. tomorrow in the first WVIAC semifinal.