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Karly Niesen
Terry Hancock
3
Winner Wheeling WHL 3-0,3-0 MEC
2
Fairmont St. FairSt 3-2,3-2 MEC
Winner
Wheeling WHL
3-0,3-0 MEC
3
Final
2
Fairmont St. FairSt
3-2,3-2 MEC
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Wheeling WHL 25 25 25 23 15 (3)
Fairmont St. FairSt 18 27 11 25 12 (2)
1
Wheeling WHL 3-1,3-1 MEC
3
Winner Fairmont St. FairSt 4-2,4-2 MEC
Wheeling WHL
3-1,3-1 MEC
1
Final
3
Fairmont St. FairSt
4-2,4-2 MEC
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Wheeling WHL 16 21 25 22 (1)
Fairmont St. FairSt 25 25 16 25 (3)

Game Recap: Volleyball | | Andrew Woodley, Sports Information Director

Volleyball defeats Fairmont State in five; Falls in nightcap for first-ever conference loss

FAIRMONT, W.Va. (Feb. 16) – The Wheeling University volleyball team claimed a five-set win over Fairmont State to open the night, before falling 3-1 in the second match of the evening against the Falcons. 
 
The loss snaps the Cardinals incredible run of 219-straight conference regular-season wins which dated back to 2008.
 
THE RUNDOWN
  • Match 1 Final Score: Wheeling 3, Fairmont State 2 (25-18, 25-27, 25-11, 15-13)
  • Match 2 Final Score: Fairmont State 3, Wheeling 1 (25-16, 25-21, 16-25, 25-22)
  • Records: Wheeling (3-1) | Fairmont State (4-2)
  • Location: Joe Retton Arena – Fairmont, West Virginia
TEAM LEADERS
  • Junior Kayla Bekier (Northwood, Ohio/Lake) posted a team-best 18 kills and had four blocks in the win. Bekier led the team with 17 kills in the four-set loss.
  • Freshman setter Karly Niesen (Cincinnati, Ohio/Roger Bacon) dished out 55 assists in the five-set win. She also finished with 14 digs on defense. Niesen tossed around 36 assists in the second match with 22 digs.
  • Junior Lexi Reinert (Cincinnati, Ohio/Ursuline Academy) finished with 11 kills in the opening match victory. She added 11 kills in the nightcap.
  • Junior Allonda Watkins (Beachwood, Ohio/Beachwood) added 10 kills and six blocks in the in the win. She tallied 12 kills in the four-set loss.
  • Freshman Raegan Rosi (Powell, Ohio/Olentangy Liberty) registered a kill-dig double-double with 13 kills and 10 digs in the opening match. 
  • Senior Audrey Francis (Sidney, Ohio/Fairlawn) paced the defensive efforts in the opening match win with 31 digs. Francis posted 25 digs in the second match.
  • Junior Jenna Franks (Dover, Ohio/Tuscarawas Valley) established a career-high with 21 digs to help the Cardinals earn the win in the first match. She had 16 digs in the late match.
HOW IT HAPPENED IN MATCH ONE
  • The first set went back and forth and was tied at 14-14 halfway through. The Cardinals answered with an 11-4 run, which included eight-straight points, to collect a 25-18 win
  • The Cardinals looked to be on its way early in the second set when it established a 9-3 lead.
  • Fairmont State rallied with seven-straight and eventually took an 18-13 lead. 
  • Wheeling managed to tie the set back up at 21-21 and was a point away from a two-set lead at 24-23. 
  • The Falcons responded with four of the next five points to steal a 27-25 win.
  • The Cardinals had their most dominant set of the evening in the third to take a 2-1 lead.
  • Wheeling limited the Falcons to nine kills and hit .333 on its own end to win 25-11.
  • The Cardinals opened up leads of 11-4 and 18-12 in the fourth set.
  • Fairmont State rallied back with 13 of the next 18 points to force a fifth set.
  • Both squads made runs and the fifth set was tied at 9-9.
  • Wheeling managed to take a 13-11 lead, before back-to-back kills by Bekier sealed the victory for the Cardinals.
HOW IT HAPPENED IN MATCH TWO
  • Fairmont State did not let the disappointment of the five-set loss linger. The Falcons led for the majority of the first two sets to open up a 2-0 lead in the match.
  • Wheeling battled back with a win in the third set. The Cardinals led 15-14, but went on to take 10 of the next 12 points to claim the win. 
  • The Cardinals posted 18 kills and only had three errors to earn a 25-16 set win.
  • Wheeling got off to a good start with a 6-2 lead in the fourth set.
  • Fairmont State made a big run to take a 14-8 lead and eventually built a 21-16 advantage.
  • Wheeling brought the set all the way back to a one-point deficit at 23-22, but the Falcons closed out the match with back-to-back points to end the Cardinals historic run. 
MATCH NOTES
  • The loss is the first ever for Wheeling in the Mountain East Conference (MEC). The Cardinals were a perfect 115-0 in regular-season conference play since the league's first season in 2013.
  • Looking further back, the Cardinals had not lost to a conference opponent in regular-season play of any kind (MEC/WVIAC) since falling to West Virginia State 3-0 on September 9, 2008.
  • The streak lasted a total of 219 matches and is the longest streak of consecutive wins in Division II history. Only Juniata (D3) had a longer streak with 369-straight conference wins from 1981-2017.
  • West Texas A&M is second all-time in Division II with 87 from 2006-2011 — 132 matches fewer than the record established by Wheeling.
  UP NEXT
  • The Cardinals return home on Friday, February 19 to host West Liberty at 7 p.m.
  • 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.
 
 
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