Wheeling, W. Va. – Day two of the Wheeling Invitational kicked off Saturday with two new Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) making the trip to the Alma Grace McDonough Center. The Wheeling University Volleyball team (5-6, 0-0) kicked off the tournament taking on Slippery Rock University and wrapped up the day's festivities against Shippensburg. It would be the Cardinals best showing of the season as they swept both matches to pick up their third and fourth sweeps of the year.

Match One: Wheeling 3, Slippery Rock 0

After earning a sweep in their final match of the night on day one, the Wheeling University Volleyball team came out on day two looking to keep the momentum going. They opened the day doing just that as they took down Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) opponent Slippery Rock 3-0. Unlike on day one, set one on day two began with Wheeling falling behind 6-2 in the early going. Head Coach Christy Benner would call a timeout and the Cardinals regrouped on the floor, battling back to make it a 10-9 set. Wheeling would take their first lead on a 4-2 run, and the set was tied 13-13 halfway through. Tylah Yeomans would score that 13th point for the Cardinals, and sparked a 6-0 run that extended the Cardinals lead to 18-13. That would be enough to keep Wheeling in the lead as they won the first set 25-20.
Set two once again began with Wheeling taking control as they scored five of the first six points to take a 5-1 set lead. Tylah Yeomans had two kills and Cassidy Wiley added a kill during the opening run as Wheeling's offense was jump started. The Cardinals extended their lead to 7-3 after a Riley Kindall kill and controlled the set early on. However, a 6-2 run from Slippery Rock would get them within one point and made it a 12-11 set. The teams traded the next few points before a short 3-0 run created separation again and made it Wheeling 18, Slippery Rock 13. The Cardinals would continue to lead 21-18 late in the set and ended things by scoring the final four points of the set. They would win 25-18 and led the match 2-0 looking for their second straight sweep.

Karly Niesen would get the first serve for Wheeling in set three and didn't want to give up the server's circle. She helped her team rally to score the first eight points of the set, with help from three kills by Yeomans during the run. The Cardinals continued to add on to their lead throughout the set, and led 12-4 as it reached its halfway point. However, Slippery Rock would threaten scoring seven straight points to make it a one-point set and erase the Cardinals early advantage. Wheeling led 20-16 late in the set before going on 4-0 run to make it 24-16 with the set point to Wheeling. Allonda Watkins finished things out with a kill to end the night and give the Cardinals the 3-0 win.

Tylah Yeomans led the offense in match one with 18 kills as she reaches double digit kills for the third straight match. Karly Niesen added 35 assists on the day as she continues to be a solid leader for the offense. The defense was led by Berit Jones, who finished with 22 digs giving her four 20+ dig performances, and Niesen added 11 Digs in the win.
The Cardinals would come back to end the night in the tournament's final match when they battled Slippery Rock.

Match Two: Wheeling 3, Shippensburg 0

In their second match of the day, the Cardinals would feed off of a wild atmosphere inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. The Cardinals fans came out in full force and Wheeling's hitters gave them a lot to cheer about. Tylah Yeomans, who has had a strong start to the season, knocked down the first kill of the night and the Cardinals took a 4-1 lead early. However, the Raiders battled back to take an 8-6 lead and the set would be tied at 10-10 at the halfway mark. Another Yeomans kill started a 7-2 run that gave Wheeling a 17-12 lead. The Cardinals defense would step up from there and Wheeling allowed just two more Raider points in the set. Allonda Watkins continued her successful tournament, knocking down three kills over the final eight points and the Cardinals took the opening set 25-14.

Set two was once again competitive early on a d Wheeling had an 8-6 lead early on. Mady Winters would get her night going with two big kills at the beginning of the set and Watkins kept her success going with two kills of her own. The Raiders stayed with the Cardinals, making it a 14-13 set before a Wheeling 11-2 run would end the set. Once Wheeling got to a 20-15 lead, Yeomans and Lexi Smith took over as the Cardinals scored the final five points to win the set 25-15. The Cardinals were now leading 2-0 in the match and had the crowd on their side. With the third set approaching, the Cardinals were looking to bring the day to an end and send the fans home happy.

As set three began, you could tell Wheeling was looking to put their opponent away quickly. They scored 10 of the first 14 points in the set and went ahead 10-4 in the early going. The Cardinals just kept on attacking and didn't allow Shippensburg to get out of single digits for the entire set. The Cardinals went to their bench towards the end of the set and led 23-9 in the late going. Yeomans picked up a kill for the team's 24th point of the set and Alyson Cunningham slammed down the final kill of the day as Wheeling walked away 25-9 victors. It was their second 3-0 sweep of the day and moved them to 3-1 for the four match stretch at the Wheeling Invitational.

Three different Cardinals registered double digit kills in match two, led by sophomore Riley Kindall's 13 kill effort. Tylah Yeomans and Allonda Watkins each added 11 kills on the night as the offense totaled 46 kills across the three sets. Karly Niesen picked up 45 more assists and Berit Jones led the way with 15 Digs on the night.

The Wheeling University Volleyball team now has a week off before returning to action next Saturday, September 17th, when they host Tiffin at 2 PM.