Tampa, FL. – It was opening day for the University of Tampa Invitational on Friday, and the Wheeling Volleyball team (1-4, 0-0) kicked things off with their third match against a ranked opponent this season. They battled #24 Colorado Mesa and battled but couldn't overtake the Mavericks, falling 3-0. The Cardinals saw some of their top performers from the West Florida tournament shine again, but it wasn't enough as the team takes it's first sweep of the season.

Both sides of the ball saw their leaders from the first tournament of the year once again lead the way in this outing. While no Cardinals were able to eclipse the double digit kill mark, Tylah Yeomans once again led the way with eight kills on the night. Junior Karly Niesen added a season-high six kills to finish second on the team while leading the passing game with 17 assists. Defensively, Berit Jones continued her stretch of double-digit Dig games by finishing with 14. Riley Kindall followed her up with 11 Digs and two different Cardinals finished with two blocks on the afternoon. Despite the 3-0 loss, the Cardinals were able to battle throughout the night and have good things to learn from as the tournament rolls on. 

In the first set, Colorado Mesa came out hot, starting the match with a 7-2 run to establish an early lead. However, a Maverick attack error gave Wheeling some life, and a 3-0 run would make it a 7-5 set in the early going. The first set was a set of runs as one team would punch followed quickly by the other team. Colorado Mesa extended their lead to 14-8 and then Wheeling responded with six of the next seven points to make it a one point set. The Cardinals remained within three points of Colorado Mesa throughout the set and a late Maverick attack error made it a 23-21 set with Wheeling in striking distance. However, Colorado Mesa would end up scoring the final two points of the set and won 25-21. They had a 1-0 lead early and Wheeling was looking to bounce back.

Set two was the most competitive set of the night, nearly going to a win-by-two scenario. Both teams were streaky early on, with Colorado Mesa scoring the first four points and Wheeling responding with a 4-1 run a few points later to tie the set at 9-9. With Wheeling on the verge of taking their first lead of the afternoon, the Mavericks would score four straight points and go ahead 13-9. They maintained a similar lead for most of the set until the score stood at 22-17 in the late going. An attack error and a Niesen kill catapulted the Cardinals to a 6-2 run that made it a 24-23 game with the Cardinals on the verge of tying things up. Unfortunately, the Mavericks would come up with the final kill of the set as they went on to win 25-23 and take a 2-0 lead.

The third set has been a strong one for the Cardinals this year, as they have won the third set of each of their first four matches of the season. However, Colorado Mesa scored seven of the first nine points in the set and wouldn't look back. They went on to win the set 25-11 ending the night as Wheeling fell 3-0. As a team, Wheeling had a .075 hitting percentage on the day and finished with a combined 26 kills. With two more matches scheduled for Saturday, the Cardinals will look for a day two bounce back effort.

The Wheeling University Volleyball team is back in action on Saturday morning when they take on Tusculum University with tip-off scheduled for 11 AM. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.