Wheeling, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Volleyball team (21-5, 12-1) ends the regular season with three of their final four games being played at home. That stretch started on Tuesday when Wheeling defeated Frostburg State 3-0. It was a battle throughout the night, but Wheeling was able to pull out the victory.

Wheeling got the advantage early in the first set, scoring four of the first five points to take a 4-1 lead in the set. Wheeling maintained that four-point lead for the majority of that first set. However, Wheeling would pull away with an 8-1 run that extended their lead to 17-7 late in the set. The Cardinals allowed just two more points the rest of the set and picked up a 25-9 win to take a 1-0 lead in the match. Wheeling had an impressive.593 hitting percentage in the set, recording 16 kills on 39 total attack opportunities.

Mady Winters and Lexi Smith led the way in that first set, and we're looking to keep it rolling throughout the game
However, in set two it was a much tougher battle as the two teams went back and forth throughout the start of the set. In fact, Frostburg had the lead in the early going as they went ahead 14-11. However, Wheeling went on a 6-1 run to take a 17-15 lead and were back in the driver's seat. However, the Cardinals would never lead by more than two in the set, and things were forced to a win-by-two scenario. Frostburg took the first advantage 25-24, but Lexi Reinert and Winters combined for the final three kills to lead Wheeling to the 27-25 set two win. It showed that it wasn't going to be an easy night for the Cardinals and they were going to have to fight off the Bobcats.

At the start of that third set, the Wheeling offense flexed their muscles again taking a 5-1 lead in the early going. However, while they never went on any long runs, Frostburg slowly and methodically battled their way back into the set, tying the game at 21-21 late in the set. They nearly forced a fourth set, taking a 24-22 lead, but this time Wheeling was the one to battle back and tied the set at 24-24. The game would move to 25-25 before Wheeling got a kill from Karly Niesen and took advantage of an attack error to secure a 27-25 set three win and a 3-0 sweep of the match.

Wheeling finished the day with a pair of double-digit killers, with Mady Winters and Kayla Bekier leading the way with 12 and 11 kills respectively. For Bekier, it is her third straight game finishing with double-digit kills, as she continues to improve her game as the season moves on. Niesen continued her string work as the team's setter, finishing the night with 44 assists. Audrey Francis led the defensive effort with 19 digs on the day, while Karlee Lois finished with a season-high 10 digs in the win. While hosting the MEC Tournament is still very much up in the air, they are looking to win out as they try to improve their post-season standing.

The Wheeling University Volleyball team is back in action when they head on the road for the final time in the regular season on Friday to face Notre Dame College at 7 PM.