Wheeling University Athletics

WHEELING, W.Va. (Oct. 10) – The No. 20 Wheeling University volleyball team needed four sets to earn a 3-1 win over Notre Dame (Ohio) Thursday night in a Mountain East Conference (MEC) match.
 
THE RUNDOWN

• Final Score:  No. 20 Wheeling 3, Notre Dame 1 (23-25, 25-10, 25-23, 25-11) Box Score 
• Records: Wheeling (15-3, 4-0 MEC) | Notre Dame (14-6, 2-2 MEC)
• Location: Alma Grace McDonough Center – Wheeling, West Virginia

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Cardinals and Falcons played a very competitive opening set.
• Notre Dame held off a late Wheeling rally to take the set. The Falcons hit .486 with 19 kills, while the Cardinals hit .389 with 19 kills.
• Wheeling turned things around in the second set defensively on its way to a 25-10 win. 
• The Cardinals still managed to hit a match-best .471 with 18 kills, but the team limited the Falcons to eight kills on 43 attacks (.070 hitting percentage).
• Notre Dame bounced back and matched Wheeling with 16 kills in the third set, but a late run allowed the Cardinals to take a 2-1 lead.
• The Cardinals managed to force eight Falcon errors and scored five of the final eight points in a 20-20 game to earn a 25-23 win in the set.
• Wheeling closed out the match with a 25-11 win in the fourth set.
• The Cardinals led 12-8, before taking 13 of the next 16 points to roll to the match win.

TEAM LEADERS

• Senior Haley Kramer (Norwalk, Ohio/Monroeville) led the team with 18 kills on 29 attacks with two errors (.552 hitting percentage).
• Junior Abby Strait (Bridgeport, W.Va./Bridgeport) posted a career-high 17 kills on 28 attacks with two errors (.536). She also added a six blocks.
• Wheeling finished the match with 13 blocks, including a match-best eight from sophomore Allonda Watkins (Beachwood, Ohio/Beachwood). Watkins also chipped in 10 kills.
• Senior setter Stephanie Sylvester (Oregon, Ohio/St. Ursula Academy) tossed around 50 assists and helped setup the Cardinals to hit .340 for the match.
• Junior Audrey Francis (Sidney, Ohio/Fairlawn) finished with 24 digs and is now only nine digs away from 2,000 for her career.

UP NEXT

• Wheeling closes out the week with its third opponent from the Buckeye State when it hosts Urbana tomorrow, Friday, October 11 at 6 p.m.
• A live stream of the match will be available online and on The Mountain East Digital Network OTT app (Roku, AppleTV, Android, and Amazon Fire TV) or by visiting MountainEast.tv/wju.