Wheeling, W. Va. - After finishing the regular season 24-5 overall and 15-1 in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play, the Wheeling University Volleyball team has once again made the MEC Playoff tournament as the #1 seed from the North Division. Their first-round match-up has been set as they take on the #5 seed from the MEC North Division Frostburg State in the 2:30 PM match at West Virginia State.

The Cardinals enter the MEC playoffs coming off one of their toughest matches of the season against West Liberty University. After the two teams played to a 3-2 match in West Liberty, it was a similar atmosphere at Wheeling. The Hilltoppers would take the first set of the match, before Wheeling battled back to take the final three sets of the day by scores of 25-16, 25-20, and 25-23 to secure the victory and their 11^th conference win of the season.

Leading the way in that matchup was senior outside hitter Kayla Bekier, who rattled off 21 kills in the 3-1 victory. It was a strong end of the season for Bekier, who compiled 31 kills over her final two games, and served as a leader for the Wheeling offense. Bekier was one of five Cardinals who finished with double digit kills on the day, including a career-high 11-kill effort for sophomore Tylah Yoemans. The offense has been clicking at the right time, and will look to continue to be a driving force throughout the playoffs.

On the defensive side of the ball, Audrey Francis continues her good play with a team-high 36 digs in the win over Wheeling, and 50 total over the final week of the regular season. Francis is second in the nation with 710 digs this season, and leads the MEC in that category. However, Wheeling also saw contributions on the defensive side from senior Jenna Franks, who racked up 14 digs in the win over West Liberty. Wheeling's back line has been strong all season, and they look to continue that effort in MEC tournament play.

For Wheeling, the biggest thing that Head Coach Christy Benner is looking for is consistency. Every game is so critical in the tournament, and she is looking for her team to control what they can control and hopefully everything else will fall into place.

"I think just playing consistent is probably the biggest obstacle for us especially when you have a lot of teams who are very good this year," said Benner. "Nobody went undefeated in conference so that tells you right there that it is going to be a lot of competition. So, if we can stay consistent and play smarter volleyball then we can do well."

The Match-up

The first round matchup between Frostburg State and Wheeling will be the third of this 2021 season, and the seventh all-time between the two teams. Wheeling has won both games so far this season, but their last game came on November 2^nd in what was a tightly contested game inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. After picking up a 25-9 win in the opening set, Wheeling had to go to back-to-back win-by-two scenarios as they took the final two sets by scores of 27-25.

Freshman Mady Winters led the charge with 12 kills in that game, and Bekier followed right behind her with 11 kills. On the defensive side of things, Audrey Francis picked up a team-high 19 digs while Karly Niesen finished the night with 10.

The Details

Tip-off for Thursday's round one MEC game is scheduled for 2:30 PM at West Virginia State. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.