ST. CLOUD, Minn. (Sept. 13) – The No. 14 Wheeling University volleyball team split a pair of matches on the first day of the St. Cloud State Invitational. The Cardinals swept Minnesota-Crookston 3-0 to start the day, but were knocked off by No. 6 Minnesota-Duluth 3-0 later in the evening.

THE RUNDOWN

• Final Score Match 1:  No. 14 Wheeling 3, Minnesota-Crookston 0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-12) Box Score 
• Final Score Match 2: No. 6 Minnesota-Duluth 3, No. 14 Wheeling 0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-19) Box Score
• Records: Wheeling (4-2) | Crookston (1-4) | Duluth (6-1)
• Location: St. Cloud, Minnesota

HOW IT HAPPENED vs. Minnesota-Crookston

• The Cardinals led 6-5 in the first set, before out-scoring the Golden Eagles 14-7 to race out to a 20-12 lead. Wheeling eventually took the set at 25-17.
• The second set was much tighter. The Cards led 19-16 late, before Crookston closed to within one at 20-19. Wheeling did not allow the Golden Eagles to get any closer before taking the set at 25-22.
• The Cardinals finished off the match with a comfortable 25-12 third set win. Wheeling took 10 of the final 14 points to finish off Crookston. 

TEAM LEADERS

• Junior Breanna Kramer (Norwalk, Ohio/Monroeville) led the Cardinals with 12 kills, 12 digs and two blocks.
• Senior Haley Kramer (Norwalk, Ohio/Monroeville) added 11 kills on 17 attacks (.647 hitting percentage) and one block 
• Senior setter Stephanie Sylvester (Oregon, Ohio/St. Ursula Academy) tossed around 40 assists to go with 11 digs. She had five kills on six attacks as well.

HOW IT HAPPENED vs. No. 6 Minnesota-Duluth

• The Cardinals led 15-12 in the first set following consecutive kills by Breanna Kramer. 
• UMD responded with six-straight points to go out to a 18-15 lead. The Cardinals managed to draw back within two points, but the Bulldogs closed out the set win at 25-20.
• Wheeling stormed out to a 6-1 lead to open the second set, but Duluth answered back and tied the set at 10-10.
• The next dozen points went back-and-forth and the Cardinals found themselves trailing 19-18.
• Duluth took command of the set with five-straight points, before taking the second set at 25-21.
• The third set was tight early on, as the Cardinals found themselves trailing 12-11. UMD once again created separation and locked down the sweep in the top-25 battle with a 25-19 win.

TEAM LEADERS

• Junior Cassie Meyer (Jackson Center, Ohio/Jackson Center) and Breanna Kramer each had 10 kills to lead the Cardinals. Meyer also added nine digs.
• Haley Kramer and sophomore Allonda Watkins (Beachwood, Ohio/Beachwood) each had four blocks.

UP NEXT

• Wheeling closes out the St. Cloud State Invitational tomorrow, Saturday, September 14 with two more matches.
• The Cardinals will open the day at 3 p.m. local (4 p.m. ET) with Bemidji State, before wrapping up play with host-St. Cloud State at 7 p.m. local (8 p.m. ET).
• The match with Bemidji State will have live stats, while a live video stream of the match versus St. Cloud State will be available.