Wheeling, W. Va. - The Wheeling University Volleyball team (20-5, 11-1) kicks off November with a good stretch of home games after spending a majority of October on the road. That home stretch kicks off on Tuesday when they host Frostburg State in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play at 7 PM. Three of Wheeling's four final regular season games will be played at home as they try to end the season on a high note in front of the home fans.

Over the weekend, the Cardinals picked up back-to-back wins against West Virginia Wesleyan and Davis & Elkins. Both matches ended in a 3-0 sweep for the Cardinals, but the two games were very different overall. In the first game against West Virginia Wesleyan, Wheeling used a balanced offensive attack, mixed in with good defensive play, while on Saturday, the hitters once again flexed their muscles against Davis & Elkins.

Leading that offensive effort was senior Kayla Bekier, who combined for 20 kills between the six sets played. She began the weekend with a six-kill effort in the 3-0 win over the Bobcats, finishing one kill behind a trio of Wheeling hitters, before leading the effort with 14 kills in the second game of the weekend against Davis & Elkins. Her most efficient effort came on Saturday when she put together a .423 hitting percentage in her team's 3-0 win.

On the defensive side of the ball, fellow senior Audrey Francis has been having similar success on the back line. She finished the weekend with 41 digs between the two games, putting together nearly identical efforts in both games. Against West Virginia Wesleyan, she finished the with 19 digs and picked up 22 digs against Davis & Elkins.  Sophomore Raegan Rosi backed up Francis's effort with 14 digs of her own over the weekend in her team's two wins.

With four games left in the regular season, Wheeling sits atop the MEC North Division at 11-1, and sits three games ahead of Fairmont State for the division lead. With four games left, there is still a lot to figure out in terms of the MEC Playoff race, but Wheeling is positioning themselves to be in the field and competing for an MEC Championship. They still have four games left in the regular season to focus on first, and are hoping to get hot at the right time. All four games come against MEC North Division opponents, as the Cardinals control their destiny heading into the playoff race.

The Match-up

Wheeling and Frostburg have matched up once already this season, with Wheeling taking the match 3-0. Overall, there have been five meetings between these two teams, in which Wheeling has won all five of the previous contests. However, the most recent meeting was the most competitive yet, as the Bobcats gave Wheeling a battle from the first set all the way to the end. Wheeling won the first set 26-24 before going on to win the final two sets by identical scores of 25-18.
 
Lexi Reinert led the way with 12 kills in the game, while Mady Winters had eight kills in the win. Francis led the defensive effort with 35 digs, and senior Jenna Franks put together one of her best games of the season with 15 digs.

The Details

Tip-off for Tuesday's game is scheduled for 7 PM in the Alma Grace McDonough Center. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.