Box Score Pensacola, Fl. – The first two days of the Spring Hill Suites Invitational saw the Wheeling University Volleyball team (1-3, 0-0) drop their first three games of the season. On Saturday, they broke through with win number one as they took down Lees-McRae 3-0. It ended their run with a record of 1-3 in Pensacola, Florida and they look to take their momentum from the final match into next week's tournament.

After falling behind early in the first set in their first three matches, the Cardinals were the ones coming out firing in set one. They scored the first six points of the set thanks to kills by Tylah Yeomans and Lexi Smith coupled with some Bobcats attack errors to take a 6-0 lead. Smith and Mady Winters added one kill each and the Cardinals had a healthy 9-2 lead through the first 11 points. They would continue adding onto their lead with back-to-back runs of 6-0 and 7-0 that had them out in front 21-5. The defense would be strong throughout the set, and didn't allow the Bobcats to get into double digits. Allonda Watkins would end the set with a kill and Wheeling got out to their first 1-0 lead of the tournament with a 25-9 set win. The Cardinals had a .462 hitting percentage in that first set and looked to keep the momentum going.

Set two started out much in the same way set one did with the Cardinals once again taking a big early lead. Yeomans slammed down a pair of kills as part of a 5-0 run and the Cardinals' Allonda Watkins extended the lead to 9-4 with two kills of her own. However, Lees-McRae would not go down so easily this time as they battled back to make it a 12-10 game. However, Wheeling responded with a 4-0 run of their own with Smith and Riley Kindall each picking up kills. That lead was enough to keep them ahead for good in what was the closest set of the night. Lees-McRae got to within one point of the  Cardinals, making it a 19-18 game, but the Cardinals would end the set by scoring the final six points of the set to take a 25-18 win and go ahead 2-0 in the match.

Third sets have been big for the Cardinals this season as they entered the match 3-0 in the third set. They were looking to make it a perfect 4-4 and earn their first sweep of the season. It was the most back and forth set early on, but the Cardinals still held a 10-6 lead over Lees-McRae. The Cardinals used a 7-2 run to extend their lead to 17-10. The defense once again kicked into high gear allowing just two more points in the set. The offense took advantage and a Lees-McRae attack error and a Yeomans kill ended the third set 25-12 to pick up the sweep. It was the team's first win of the 2022 season and ends the Spring Hill Suite Invitational with some momentum on their side.

Tylah Yeomans finished off what was a strong tournament for the Junior, adding 15 kills to her total for the weekend. Allonda Watkins was the only other Cardinal to finish with double-digit Jill's as she racked up 11. Karly Nielsen continued her strong work as a setter with 33 assists as she controlled the offense. After a strong showing against Spring Hill College, Berit Jones once again led the defense with 11 digs on the day. It was a boost for the Cardinals and has them going into Tampa, Florida with momentum on their side.

The Wheeling University Volleyball team returns to action on Friday, September 2nd when they take on Colorado Mesa University at the University of Tampa Invitational.