Wheeling, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Volleyball team (6-6, 0-0) wrapped up their early season non-conference schedule when they hosted Tiffin on Saturday at 2 PM. It was a four-set battle inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center and in the end, the Cardinals came out victorious 3-1. It was a big day for setter Karly Niesen as she led the way to helping her team even up their record heading into Mountain East Conference (MEC) play.

Set one went back and forth in the early going with the lead changing hands three times over the first 17 points of the set. The Cardinals would be the ones to take the 10-7 advantage on the strength of kills from Lexi Smith and Allonda Watkins. However, Tiffin would battle back to tie the set at 12-12 and pulled away with a 7-1 run that made it an 18-13 set. Tiffin would then have a service error and Wheeling would pounce with a 7-0 run of their own, giving Wheeling a 20-18 lead. Mady Winters ended the run with a kill and it would come down to set point with the Cardinals leading 24-20. Tiffin would keep the set alive for one more point with a kill, but a Dragons Attack Error gave Wheeling a 25-21 win and a 1-0 lead in the match.

As the second set began, Tiffin would score the first two points of the set before Wheeling took the lead back with five straight points that made it a 5-2 set. They maintained the lead through the early parts of the set and a kill from Allonda Watkins would make it a 14-8 Wheeling lead halfway through the set. Tiffin slowly battled back in the set and before you knew it they were knocking on the door and made it a 19-17 set. A Lexi Smith kill sparked the offense again as they scored four straight points and made it a 23-17 set. Two more Dragon points for them into the 20's and an attack error made it Wheeling's set point. Watkins would finish out the set with a kill and the Cardinals went ahead 2-0 in the match and was looking for their fourth straight sweep.

In that third set, Wheeling once again jumped out to a 5-2 set lead and looked to once again ride it to victory. This time, Tiffin would battle back to tie the game at 8-8 and the back and forth began as the teams set tied at 15-15. However, it would be Tiffin that had the advantage over the final 17 points a d the Dragons won the set 25-22 to make it a 2-1 game. In set four, the two teams traded the first eight points before Wheeling took over the set. Karly Niesen sparked the run with a kill and the Cardinals would score 11 of the next 12 points to take a 15-5 lead. Niesen would pick you four kills in the set, and finished with a career high seven as Wheeling would have the match point at 24-17. Tylah Yeomans would smack down the final kill and Wheeling won the set 25-17 and the match 2-1.

Karly Niesen led the way with 40 assists on the day while also adding the career-high seven kills. She added a season high 13 Digs to complete her big day as she led the Cardinals on the court. Tylah Yeomans and Allonda Watkins each had big games on offense with 17 and 16 kills respectively and Watkins added a .464 hitting percentage. Chylyn Pate got the start at Libero and led the way with 20 Digs while Riley Kindall finished with 12 digs and Jordan West finished with 11 Digs.

The Wheeling University Volleyball team now looks ahead to MEC Play on Tuesday when they travel to Fairmont State for tip-off at 7 PM.