Pensacola, FL. – After falling in their 2021 season opener on Thursday, the Wheeling University Volleyball team (1-1) bounced back with a five-set win over The University of Southern Indiana (USI) on Friday. It is the first of two games for Wheeling, and their hitters came to play, totaling 58 kills across the five sets.
Senior Kayla Bekier (Northwood, OH./Lake) was on top of her game leading the way with 14 kills for the Cardinals on 44 total attacks. Freshman Riley Kindall (Westerville, OH./Westerville Central HS) added 10 kills on 24 total attacks, as a combination of veteran experience and newcomer talent that helped lift the team to their first win of the season.
It was another slow start for Wheeling in their first game of the day as they dropped the first set 25-22 in a close back and forth battle. Wheeling recorded 11 kills on 32 total attacks in the set for a hitting percentage of .156, but USI was just a little bit stronger recording 19 kills on 42 total attacks to pick up the set one win. In the second set, USI hit their stride with their best performance of the day, knocking down 14 kills on 31 chances. Wheeling couldn't keep up and dropped the second set 25-15. They were on the ropes now down 2-0 and needed to put their foot on the gas pedal if they wanted to stay alive.
In the third set, it was Wheeling's turn to have a breakout set as they had a .429 hitting percentage, knocking down a match-high 16 kills in 35 total attacks. Even so, it almost wasn't enough as USI battled back to make it 24-24 and force a win-by-two-scenario. Wheeling and USI traded the first two points to make it 25-25, but Wheeling was able to secure the final two points of the match and pick up a 27-25 set win to stay alive and bring the score to 3-1.
Wheeling continued to hit the ball well into the fourth set and began to take advantage of some costly USI errors. The Eagles had eight hitting errors during that fourth set, and it allowed Wheeling to build up a lead. USI would keep it close, but the Cardinals would hold on to win the set 25-22 and forced a fifth and final set.
It was Wheeling's hitters that would seal the victory, landing a hitting percentage of .320 by knocking down 11 Kills on 25 total chances. The defense was able to dig out some tough attacks by USI throughout the set and gave Wheeling the chance to win. It was a chance they would take as they took the fifth set 15-12 and ended up winning 3-2.
Defensively, Audrey Francis (Sidney, OH./Fairlawn) led the way with 29 digs and was one of three Cardinals to end up with double-digit digs on the day. The Wheeling blockers had a big day in the front row with senior Lexi Smith (Portsmouth, OH./Notre Dame), Maddy Winters (New Martinsville, WV./Magnolia HS), and Kindall all picking up three block assists in the win.
The Wheeling University Volleyball team isn't done yet as they play one more match on Friday night starting at 5:30 pm. You can watch the match live by clicking HERE or follow along with live stats by clicking HERE.
