Wheeling, W. Va. - The Wheeling University Volleyball team (17-4, 8-0) Heads back out on the road on Friday when they take on West Virginia State at 7 PM. It has been a month full of road trips for the Cardinals in October, as they will be playing their sixth road game already in October compared to just two games at home.

One of those home games came last time out when Wheeling fought hard to earn a 3-0 victory over the University of Charleston on Tuesday. All three sets were competitive throughout the night, but the Cardinals were able to hold off the Golden Eagles for the victory. The offense has been a strong suit for Wheeling all season long, and they were led once again by freshman Mady Winters, who is putting together a strong freshman campaign.

Winters knocked down 17 kills in the win for Wheeling and has upped her season total to 169 kills and her hitting percentage to .323. Winters ranks second on the team in kills, behind fellow freshman Riley Kindall, and has been on fire over the last couple of weeks. The other double-digit killer for the Cardinals was senior Lexi Smith, who finished the night with 12 kills. Smith now has 163 kills on the season and has registered 12 kills in each of her last two games.

Setting up that strong offensive attack has been sophomore Karly Niesen, who had another big game against the Golden Eagles. Niesen recorded 40 assists in the game and has consistently been there to set the ball for her hitters. She is also doing a nice job on the defensive side of things and fell three digs shy of her season-high with 11 against Charleston. Audrey Francis continued her strong defensive performance this season and led the way with 15 digs in Tuesday's game.

As the season moves into its second half, there is still a lot to be decided in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) North Division and the MEC South Division. In the North, there are three teams within three games of first place, and in the south division, there are three teams within two games of first place. Wheeling is looking to take things one game at a time and keep playing their game over these final three weeks of the regular season.

The Last Match-up

The last time Wheeling and West Virginia State matched up was on March 12th, 2021, in a game that Wheeling won 3-1. The Yellow Jackets would take the first set 25-21 to take a 1-0 lead before Wheeling came storming back to win the final three sets of the day. Each set came down to the wire, with Wheeling picking up 25-23 wins in the second and third set of the day before finishing the match with a 25-14 win in the fourth set.

Bekier had a career game in that match up with a career-high 22 kills and was one of three Cardinals to finish the night with double-digit kills. Smith and Lexi Reinert were the other players with double-digit kills, registering 15 and 11 respectively. It was a highly competitive game throughout, and the teams are looking forward to another competitive match this time.

The Details

Tip-off for Friday night's game is scheduled for 7 PM in Institute, West Virginia. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.