WJU Invitational Central 
WHEELING, W.Va. – The Wheeling Jesuit volleyball team took care of two Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference opponents – Slippery Rock and Kutztown – with a pair of 3-0 sweeps in the first day of the Wheeling Jesuit Invitational.
 
No. 10 WJU (8-3) took care of Slippery Rock (7-2) by 25-15, 25-17 and 25-21, before it added set wins over Kutztown (2-6) of 25-19, 25-7 and 25-13.
 
"I was happy with how well our outside hitters hit today and our high hitting percentage. It was also nice to get the two Atlantic Region wins," said Cardinal head coach Christy Benner.
 
The Cardinals used a hitting attack of 98 kills at a .351 percentage in the six sets of action. Outside Maddy Smyth paced the home attack with 21 kills and a .360 clip. Kayce Krucki added two double-doubles with 20 kills and 27 digs combined.
 
WJU completes its two-day weekend with two more PSAC matches against Shippensburg at 11 a.m. and Seton Hill at 6:30 p.m.
 
In other matches played in WJU's McDonough Center, Kutztown defeated Shepherd, 3-1.
 
No. 10 WJU 3, Slippery Rock 0 (25-15, 25-17, 25-21)
In the sets…
In the opening set, Wheeling Jesuit rattled off a 7-1 lead behind three Smyth kills and a pair from Haley Kindall. The lead grew to 15-5 and stayed no less than seven until the 25-15 final.
 
Trailing 9-8 in the second set, Krucki killed a point and proceeded to serve the next 11 points as the Cardinals went on an 11-0 run. The Rock could not recover as Sydney Obringer killed the home team's final point, 25-17.
 
WJU held a comfortable 19-7 advantage late in the third set. Slippery Rock battled back 10-straight points for a 21-18 score. The Cardinals complete the sweep when Lauran Graves downed the final point, 25-21.
 
By the numbers…
For the Cardinals
•Maddy Smyth – 11 kills, .550 pct., 4 digs, 3 BA
•Krucki – 10 kills, .450 pct., 16 digs
•Schleucher – 6 kills, 8 digs, BA, 2 asst
•Andrea Thobe – 37 assts, 9 digs, 2 BA
•Kindall – 6 kills, BA
•Lauran Graves – 7 kills, 5 TB
•Sydney Obringer – 7 kills, .412 pct., ace, 2 digs, 2 BA
•Jessica Thobe – 14 digs, kill
 
For The Rock…
•Leah Jones – 13 kills, 10 digs
 
No. 10 WJU 3, Kutztown 0 (25-19, 25-7, 25-13)
In the sets…
Kutztown battled hard in the first set. The Golden Bears came back from down 17-11 to pull to within three points, 21-18. WJU, though, posted four of the next five points for the victory, 25-19.
 
Following a Smyth kill and sideout, Graves served the next 10 points as the Cardinals went ahead 12-2. WJU never let Kutztown into the set and ran away with the 25-7 score.
 
WJU trailed for only one point, 6-5, in the third set. The Cardinals built an 18-11 lead, before they won 25-13.
 
By the numbers…
For the Cardinals
•Smyth – 10 kills, 4 TB
•Krucki – 10 kills, .444 pct., 11 digs, 3 TB
•Schleucher – 6 kills, 2 aces, 3 digs
•Andrea Thobe – 44 assts, 9 digs, 2 BA, ace
•Kindall – 9 kills, .692 pct.
•Lauran Graves – 10 kills, .500 pct., 6 digs, 3 BA
•Jessica Thobe – 9 digs, 2 aces
•Emily Blank – 7 digs
 
For the Golden Bears…
•Tori Wakelee – 7 kills
•Audrey Stringer – 7 kills