Box Score WHEELING, W.Va. – The Mountain East's first place Wheeling Jesuit Cardinals took the court Saturday as they hosted the second place Fairmont State Falcons.  The Cardinal's won the match 3-1 (25-16, 25-20, 13-25, 27-25), giving fans a possible preview of the upcoming MEC conference championship.
 
"Fairmont State's defense and desire was huge today, while their big three stepped up and their libero was fantastic," said WJU head coach Christy Benner. "We will start looking forward to our first MEC tournament at home and will focus on getting our girls healthy, because traveling these last two weeks took a toll on them."
 
The Cardinal's won the first set 25-16 led by freshmen Haley Kindle and Kacye Krucki who each had four kills. The first set was neck-and-neck until the Cardinal's pulled away after a Fairmont timeout at 13-13.
 
The second set was a high scoring back and forth battle in which the Cardinal's won 25-20. Freshmen Emma Schleucher had four kills of her own while Andre Thobe led the Cardinal's in the second set with 13 assists.
 
The Falcons came out strong in the third set even with the loud Wheeling student section right beside them. Fairmont took the third set 25-13, giving Wheeling just their third home set loss this season.
 
Wheeling Jesuit controlled the fourth set until the Falcons started fighting back. The comeback wasn't enough though as Wheeling took the third match point to win 27-25.
 
The Cardinal's record improves to 16-0 in MEC play (31-5 overall) while the Falcons record drops to 13-3 (25-6). The Cardinal's now focus on the Mountain East Conference tournament, which starts on November 19th. Details of the tournament are expected to be released soon.