WHEELING, W.Va. (Feb. 12) – The Wheeling University volleyball team posted a 3-0 sweep of Notre Dame (Ohio) Friday night inside the McDonough Center.
 
THE RUNDOWN

• Final Score: Wheeling 3, Notre Dame (25-16, 25-14, 25-19)
• Records: Wheeling (2-0) | Notre Dame (1-2)
• Location: McDonough Center – Wheeling, West Virginia

TEAM LEADERS

• Junior Kayla Bekier (Northwood, Ohio/Lake) finished with a match-best 15 kills on 29 attacks (.448 hitting percentage).
• Junior Lexi Reinert (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) posted 11 kills and added two blocks.
• Junior Allonda Watkins (Beachwood, Ohio/Beachwood) added 10 kills an a pair of service aces in the win.
• Freshman setter Karly Niesen (Cincinnati, Ohio/Roger Bacon) tossed around 39 assists and added 12 digs and two service aces.
• Senior Audrey Francis (Sidney, Ohio/Fairlawn) led the defensive efforts with 15 digs.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Wheeling fell behind 3-2 in the first set, but opened up a 19-13 lead, before claiming a 26-16 first set win.
• Notre Dame managed to hit .323 with zero errors in the first set, but the Cardinals were even more impressive with 20 kills on 43 attacks (.372) with just three errors. 
• The Cardinals blitzed the Falcons in the second set. Wheeling opened up a 13-4 lead early on and cruised to a 25-14 win for a 2-0 lead.
• Notre Dame rebounded early in the third set and held a lead of 10-7.
• The Cardinals responded with a 7-1 run to take a 14-11 advantage, before Notre Dame countered with a 5-1 spurt to take a 16-15 edge.
• With the score tied at 18-18, Wheeling went on a 8-1 run to close out the set and match at 25-19 in the third set.
• Wheeling and more than a dozen No. 25 team in last week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top-25 poll dropped out due to not competing in a match this season.
• The Cardinals will be eligible for the Top-25 again in next week's poll.

 UP NEXT

• The Cardinals will travel to Fairmont State (3-1) on Tuesday, February 16 for back-to-back matches beginning at 5 p.m.
• The two squads will make up their match postponed on February 2 at 5 p.m. and play a second regularly-scheduled match afterwards.
• No spectators are permitted inside the facility, but fans can watch a live stream of the match on The Mountain East Digital Network OTT app (Roku, AppleTV, Android, and Amazon Fire TV) or by visiting MountainEast.tv.