BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. (Nov. 20) – The Wheeling University volleyball team claimed three of the four major conference awards, as senior setter Stephanie Sylvester (Oregon, Ohio/St. Ursula Academy), junior libero Audrey Francis (Sidney, Ohio/Fairlawn) and Head Coach Christy Benner were named the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Player, Libero, and Coach of the Year announced the league office Wednesday evening.
 
In addition to those awards, a total of six Cardinals earned All-MEC honors. Joining Sylvester and Francis on the first-team was 2018 MEC Player of the Year Haley Kramer (Norwalk, Ohio/Monroeville). Junior Breanna Kramer (Norwalk, Ohio/Monroeville) earned a nod on the All-MEC Second Team, while junior Cassie Meyer (Jackson Center, Ohio/Jackson Center) and sophomore Allonda Watkins (Beachwood, Ohio/Beachwood) were named All-MEC Honorable Mention.
 
Sylvester was named the MEC Player of the Year after leading all of Division II with 12.59 assists per set during the regular season. Now a three-time All-MEC First Team selection, Sylvester also ranks third in the nation with 1,272. She has been a huge factor in the team hitting .279 this season, which ranks third in all of Division II this year. The team also slots fifth in the nation with 14.71 kills per set. The St. Ursula Academy alum is just 123 assists away from becoming the second player in MEC history to reach 5,000 assists in a career.
 
Francis collected her third-straight MEC Libero of the Year and First-Team All-MEC honor. She ranks fourth in Division II with 6.16 digs per set and slots 13th in the nation with 622 total digs. The Sidney, Ohio native surpassed 2,000 digs earlier this season and has helped the Cardinals rank 21^st in the nation with a .130 opponent hitting percentage.
 
Benner was named the MEC Coach of the Year after leading Wheeling to a 28-3 overall record. The Cardinals again went unbeaten in league play for the seventh-straight year. Wheeling has been nationally ranked every week this season and is No. 16 this week. The Cardinals are the host and top-seed for this week's MEC Tournament and remain the top-ranked team in the latest Atlantic Regional Rankings.
 
Haley Kramer, who was the 2018 MEC Player of the Year, earns her third-straight first-team honor. She is currently third in Division II with a .437 hitting percentage and is averaging nearly a block per set. Kramer also is second on the team and ninth in the MEC with 3.13 kills per set.
 
Breanna Kramer was named Second-Team All-MEC after she led the team and ranked fifth in the MEC with 3.44 kills per set. One of the most versatile players in the league, she also ranks 10^th with 3.56 digs per set. Kramer, who was the 2016 MEC Freshman of the Year, has registered 15 kill-dig double-doubles this season.
 
Meyer was named honorable mention despite battling through an injury this season. Even with the setback, she still ranked 10^th in the MEC with 3.00 kills per set. The Jackson Center native slotted third on the team and ninth in the league with a .273 hitting percentage and closed out the regular-season 13^th with 3.48 digs per set.
 
Watkins earned her second All-MEC honor with a selection to the honorable mention list. She led the team and slotted third in the MEC with 1.15 blocks per set. Watkins also ranks second on the team and eighth in the league with a .288 hitting percentage.
 
The Cardinals will open the MEC Tournament tomorrow, Thursday, November 21 when they host eighth-seeded Charleston in the night-cap of the first round at 7:30 p.m.