Charleston, W. Va. – The Mountain East Conference (MEC) tournament opened up on Thursday afternoon with the first four quarterfinal matches on the road to the MEC Championship. The Wheeling University Volleyball Team (24-7, 15-1), began their run when they took on the #4 seed from the MEC South Glenville State. It was a tight match in all three sets, but in the end Wheeling came away with the 3-0 victory and will move on the MEC semifinals on Friday.

Both teams featured heavy hitters on their front line and those hitters were put in the spotlight right away. Allonda Watkins started set one with a big kill as Wheeling would go in front taking the first two points of the set. However, Glenville State would counter with a strong attack from Zoe Schmidt who had two kills early and Glenville State was ahead 5-4 through the first nine points. Over the next 15 points no team took larger than a one-point lead until the score sat even at 12-12. Glenville State would add a pair of points to take a 14-12 advantage before the Cardinals went on their first run of the afternoon. Watkins started things off with a kill to get the Cardinals back to within one point of the Pioneers as Wheeling went on a 5-0 run to take a 17-14 lead. The Pioneers grabbed a point to stop the run but the Cardinals went right back at it adding seven of the next eight points to take a 24-16 lead. Schmidt would pick up one more kill for the Pioneers but a Lexi Smith kill we give Wheeling the 25-17 set win and a 1-0 lead in the match.

As the teams headed to set two they would trade early runs before getting back even. The Pioneers scored the first three points of the set followed quickly by three points from Wheeling as the team sat at 3-3 through the first six points. The Pioneers scored four straight points to take their biggest lead at 7-3, but five straight points from the Cardinals would put them back in front at 8-7. The teams once again found themselves tied midway through the set at 11-11 and again Wheeling would go on a run. Two separate 5-0 runs for the Cardinals would open things up to 21-13 late in the set. The Pioneers continued to battle throughout the afternoon but Wheeling held set point at 24-16. That is when Tylah Yeomans stepped in with a kill and Wheeling took a 25-16 set win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Wheeling would be the one to score the first point in set three, but Glenville state led 4-3 through the first seven points.

Wheeling's run came much earlier in this set as they retook the lead with a 4-0 run they gave them a 7-4 advantage. Glenville State continued to battle, bringing the score to 13-11 before another 4-O wheeling run opened things giving the Cardinals a 17-11 advantage. Wheeling extended their lead to 21-14 before Glenville State put on their biggest showing of the night. They battled back On a 5-1 run that made it 22-19 late in the set. The Cardinals got to set point at 24-20, but Glenville State kept the match alive with a kill to make it 24-21. However, the run would be too little too late as Yeomans ended the set with a kill and wheeling took the 25-21 set win and a 3-0 win for the match.

Head volleyball coach Christy Benner applauded Glenville State for a strong fight and was proud of her team for keeping their composure.

"I'm just glad to get this win under our belts to start this tournament," said Benner. "Congrats to Glenville on a great season. They played a very tough match and I'm proud of the way our girls were able to stay under control and get this 3-0 win."

Tylah Yeomans had a big day to start the tournament, leading the Cardinal's offense with 14 kills. Allonda Watkins finished right behind her with 10 kills on the night. The Wheeling offense was once again efficient, hitting .259 on the night led by Karly Niesen. The junior continues her strong season as a setter, finishing with 31 assists and seven digs. The defense was paced by Riley Kindall, who finished with a season-high 18 digs and was the only Cardinal in double digit digs on the day. Wheeling now advances to the MEC Semifinal round, where they will play a special playoff edition of "The Battle for Wheeling" after West Liberty upset West Virginia State in the first match of the day.

The Cardinals and Hilltoppers will meet in the MEC Semifinals round on Friday, November 11th, with tip-off at 8:30 PM.