WHEELING, W.Va. (Nov. 16) - Led by a trio of players with double-digit kills, the Wheeling Jesuit University volleyball team swept Clarion 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-20) in an NCAA Atlantic Regional Semifinal match Friday night at the McDonough Center.
The Cardinals improve to 36-3 overall and advance to the regional final, where they will meet No. 3 seed Seton Hill for a 7 p.m. match tomorrow, Saturday, November 17. Seton Hill pulled off a thrilling come-from-behind win in five sets over No. 2 seed Gannon in the other semifinal match. Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles conclude their season at 22-12 overall after earning the No. 5 seed.
Junior
Cassie Meyer (Jackson Center, Ohio/Jackson Center) led the team with a kill-dig double-double of 14 kills and 17 digs. Freshman
Allonda Watkins (Beachwood, Ohio/Beachwood) posted 13 kills with a team-best five blocks, while sophomore
Makenna Babb (Arlington, Ohio/McComb) added a double-double of her own with 10 kills and 20 digs.
Junior setter
Stephanie Sylvester (Oregon, Ohio/St. Ursula Academy) tossed around 38 assists to go with 10 digs, while sophomore
Audrey Francis (Sidney, Ohio/Fairlawn) led the defense with 25 digs in the win.
The first set was played evenly early on, before a run of seven out of nine points allowed the Cardinals to build a 20-15 lead and force a Clarion timeout. Wheeling Jesuit forced three errors and got kills from Meyer and Babb to close out the set at 25-17.
The Cardinals dominated the second set. WJU opened up a 12-4 lead to start the set and enjoyed at least an eight-point cushion from that point on in a 25-16 win.
Clarion was the aggressor in the third and enjoyed its best stretch of the night with a 17-14 lead. WJU rolled off five-straight points to reclaim the upper hand, before clinching the win with six of the final seven points at 25-20.
The Golden Eagles had a strong defensive night with 72 digs and 10 blocks, while limited the Cardinals to just a .209 hitting percentage. Clarion's Chrissy Cotton posted a match-high 33 digs in the loss.
The Cardinals will be making their eight-straight appearance in the Atlantic Regional Final. Wheeling Jesuit and Seton Hill played inside McDonough Center earlier this season, with the Cardinals notching a 3-0 win (
Box Score). The regional final is Saturday, November 17 and is slated to start at 7 p.m.
