Pensacola, Fl. – The Wheeling University Volleyball team (0-3, 0-0) entered day two of the Spring Hill Suites Invitational in Pensacola, Florida looking for a bounce back. It was a big day for junior Tylah Yeomans, who finished with a combined 36 kills in two matches, but it wasn't enough as Wheeling dropped both of their contests. They started the day with a 3-1 loss to #8 Central Missouri and followed it up by taking Spring Hill College to five sets before falling 3-2.

Game One: Central Missouri 3, Wheeling 1

To open day two of the Spring Hill Suites Invitational, Wheeling faced off against their second straight ranked opponent in Central Missouri. After battling against the #5 team in the country yesterday, they were looking to bounce back taking on the #8 team in the country. Unfortunately, they fell 3-1, but showed fight by winning the third set and battling to a win-by-two scenario in the fourth set.

The day began with Central Missouri taking the first three points of set one before a Tylah Yeomans kill got Wheeling on the board. The Cardinals went back and forth through the early portion of the set and trailed by three halfway through the set. The Cardinals would score back-to-back points as Yeomans kept swinging and made it an 11-10 game. However, that was as close as the Cardinals would get as the Jennies took the first set 25-23 and led 1-0. In set two, Yeomans would get her team our in front with the first kill of the set, but the teams traded the first eight points to make it a 4-4 game. The back and forth continued throughout the set and it was tied 22-22 late in the set. With a win-by-two scenario looming, The Jennies scored three of the final four points to win 25-23 and take a 2-0 lead.

With their backs against the wall, Wheeling had to try and fight back in set three and that they did. After Central Missouri took a 4-2 lead, the Cardinals went on their biggest run of the day, a 9-2 swing, that gave the team an 11-6 lead. Allonda Watkins led the charge with two kills during the run and Riley Kindall added one of her own. A 5-2 Cardinal run would follow and gave them their biggest lead of the night so far at 16-9 as Kindall and Lexi Smith helped push Wheeling out in front. However, Central Missouri wasn't done as they battled back to tie the game at 19-19 and forced the Cardinals to finish the set. Yoemans was the one who would bring it home for the team with four straight kills as part of a 5-0 run that gave Wheeling the 25-23 set win and moved the match score to 2-1.

With momentum on their side, Wheeling headed into set four looking to tie things up. Early in things went back and forth and the Cardinals held a slight 5-4 lead after a Central Missouri attack error. However, a 6-1 run for Central Missouri got them ahead 10-6. As the set reached the halfway point, the Cardinals were still trailing 18-14, but battled back to tie the game on a 4-0 run that made it an 18-18 set. That tie would remain and the two teams would head to a win-by-two scenario. It went back and forth as the team's traded the first eight points of the extra points to make it a 29-29 set. However, Central Missouri would pick up the final two points of the set and won 31-29 to take the match 3-1 

After a strong showing in the opened, Tylah Yeomans led the way with a career-high 21 kills while Riley Kindall added 13 kills. Karly Niesen once again led the passing game with 53 assists while picking up a kill of her own. The defense spread the wealth around once again with three Cardinals finishing with double digit digs. Raegan Rosi and Berit Jones tied for the team lead with 15 digs while Yoemans added 14 digs in the effort.

Game Two: Spring Hill College 3, Wheeling 2

In the second game of the day, the Cardinals were looking to get out in front early as they faced Spring Hill College. However, the Badgers came out strong in the game and took a 2-0 lead through the first two sets, putting the Cardinals backs against the wall. Wheeling would stay in the match, battling all the way to the fifth set, but in the end it wasn't enough as they fell 3-2.

In set one, things looked good for the Cardinals as they scored three of the first four points and battled to an 8-4 lead. Yeomans got the set started and Riley Kindall rattled off four kills in the early going to build the Cardinals lead. After extending their lead to 11-7, Spring Hill started battling back and tied the set at 15-15 at the halfway point. They battled back and forth until the score was 20-20 and a 3-0 run by Wheeling would give them a 23-20 lead. However, Spring Hill College would score five of the next seven points, forcing a win-by-two, and took the first set 26-24. In set two things were tight throughout and once again came down to the final few points as the set was tied at 19-19. Spring Hill College gained the slight advantage on a kill and used that to take a 2-0 lead with a 25-23 set two win.

With their backs against the wall, Wheeling was looking for a win in set three to keep the match alive. They came out firing in the third set, scoring eight of the first 10 points to take an 8-2 lead early in the set. Mady Winters and Lexi Smith would get hot, picking up three and two kills respectively and Wheeling found themselves ahead 17-10. Spring Hill College battled back and made things interesting with a 13-7 run that made it a 24-23 set. Allonda Watkins would finish things off with a kill and Wheeling stayed alive bringing the match score to 2-1. Set four was one of the closest sets of the night with the teams going back and forth battling to a 16-16 score. A string of attack errors from Spring Hill got Wheeling ahead and a Winters kill coupled with another attack error gave Wheeling a 25-20 set win and tied the match at 2-2.

It would come down to the fifth and final set, which turned out to be the best showing of the night by both teams. After battling to a 5-5 score, a 4-2 run for the Cardinals made it a 9-7 Wheeling advantage. Spring Hill would respond with a 4-1 run and took an 11-10 advantage and extended their lead to 14-12 to set up match point. Wheeling would respond with three straight points to take a 15-14 lead and set up match point in the win-by-two scenario. The team's battled to a 16-16 score before Spring Hill finished the set with the final two points to pick up the 18-16 win and take the match 3-2. For the third straight game, the Cardinals battled to atleast a fourth set but just fell short of their first win of the season.

The offense was firing on all cylinders throughout the match with five Cardinals finishing with double digit kills. Tylah Yeomans continued her strong tournament with 15 kills while Mady Winters (14), Riley Kindall (13), Allonda Watkins (13), and Lexi Smith (11) all finishing with double digit kills. Karly Niesen added 61 assists to her season total while picking up three kills of her own and Berit Jones led the defense with a season-high 28 digs.

The Wheeling University Volleyball team concludes  their run at the Spring Hill Suites Invitational on Saturday when they take on Lees-McRae with tip-off at 2:30 PM.