WHEELING, W.Va. (Dec. 7) – The Wheeling University volleyball team battled all night, but were unable to break through in a 3-0 loss to No. 2 seed Gannon in the Atlantic Region Championship match inside the McDonough Center Saturday night.
 
THE RUNDOWN

• Final Score: Gannon 3, Wheeling 0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-21)
• Records: Wheeling (33-4) | Gannon (30-6)
• Location: McDonough Center – Wheeling, West Virginia

TEAM LEADERS

• Despite the three-set loss, senior Stephanie Sylvester (Oregon, Ohio/St. Ursula Academy) still managed to dish out 36 assists in her final match. 
• Sylvester finishes her career second all-time in Mountain East Conference (MEC) history with over 5,000 assists.
• Senior Haley Kramer (Norwalk, Ohio/Monroeville) posted eight kills on 13 attacks (.538 hitting percentage) with a pair of blocks.
• She finished her career with 429 total blocks, good for third all-time in MEC history.
• Junior Breanna Kramer (Norwalk, Ohio/Monroeville) led the team with 11 kills. She also had 10 digs on the night.
• Junior Cassie Meyer (Jackson Center, Ohio/Jackson Center) added 10 kills and 11 digs.
• Junior libero Audrey Francis (Sidney, Ohio/Fairlawn) was all over the place and finished with a match-high 26 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The first set had little separation. The score was tied 16 times total and the biggest lead was two points.
• Gannon finally opened up a lead at 21-20 and managed to put the crucial set away at 25-23.
• The Golden Knights seized momentum and scored the first seven points of the second set.
• Wheeling trailed throughout the set, but finally battled all the way back to even at 21-21.
• Unfortunately, Gannon had the most important run of the night with four-straight points to collect the set at 25-21 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
• Gannon played with the lead for the majority of the third set as well.
• They managed to keep just enough distance from the Cardinals and only led by as many as four points.
• Wheeling got to within two points late at 22-20, but could not string together a run to rally back and were defeated 25-21 to end the night.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Wheeling had its streak of 43-straight sets snapped in the first set. The team had not lost a set since October 22 versus Malone.
• The Cardinals had won 28-straight matches entering the night and had not lost at home all season.
• Wheeling has now reached at least the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in nine-straight seasons.
• No other team except Gannon or Wheeling has won the Atlantic Region since 2011.