Fairmont, W. Va. – After a long and difficult non-conference slate that saw them take on some of the toughest teams in the country, the Wheeling University Volleyball team (7-6, 1-0) opened Mountain East Conference (MEC) play on Tuesday night against Fairmont State. It was a back and forth battle throughout the night, but the Cardinals opened Conference play on a high note as they took down the Falcons 3-1. It was a breakout game for Mady Winters as she set a season-high in kills to lead the offense.

From the first set of the night, the competitive tone was set as the two teams went back and forth. The Cardinals got out to a 3-1 lead over the first four points of the set and Fairmont would battle back to tie the game. They did this eight more times through the early portion of the set until things were tied at 19-19 late in set one. Fairmont State would take their first lead of the set and went up 21-19 and put the Cardinals in attack mode. Mady Winters would then go off, picking up three kills in four points and the Cardinals ended up having set point at 24-23. Fairmont State tied the set, sending it into a win-by-two scenario, before a ball handling error by the Falcons and a kill by Allonda Watkins ended the set. Wheeling picked up a 26-24 set win and went ahead 1-0 in the match.

Set two saw Fairmont State get out to the early 3-1 lead but, just like the Falcons did in the first set, Wheeling battled back and tied the set at 6-6. The set would remain tied until the score sat at 9-9 and a ball handling error out Wheeling on the attack. The Cardinals would take advantage, going on a 6-2 run as they extended their lead to 15-10 at the halfway point. Tylah Yeomans had two kills on the run and Wheeling extended their lead to 20-13 late in the set. However, Fairmont State would go on a 7-0 run and ended up tying the set at 20-20 sending the Cards back to the drawing board. A service error gave the ball back to Wheeling and Allonda Watkins finished the set again with two kills as her team scored the final five points and went up 2-0 with a 25-20 set win.

The Cardinals were looking for the sweep in set three, but Fairmont State wasn't going down easy. The Falcons built a 9-3 lead early in the set and Wheeling cut the lead in half with a 4-2 run that made it an 11-8 set. However, the early lead was too much to overcome as Fairmont State won 25-18 and forced a fourth set. After trading the first eight points of the set, Wheeling built an 8-4 lead early in the fourth. After Fairmont State tied the set at 9-9, the Cardinals went on their longest run of the day to seal the set. Winters started the 7-0 run with a kill and Jordan West ended it with a service ace as Wheeling extended their lead to 16-10. The Falcons would tie the set at 17-17 late, but couldn't overcome the Wheeling offense as the Cardinals won 25-22 and won the match 3-1.

Mady Winters had her best game of the season to date, leading the way with 21 kills and a .561 hitting percentage. Tylah Yeomans and Allonda Watkins also finished in double digit kills with 15 and 14 kills respectively to round out the offense. Karly Niesen got off to a strong start to conference play with 47 assists and six digs on the night. Chylyn Pate led the defensive effort with 13 digs and Winters led the way with seven blocks, one solo and six assisted blocks. The Cardinals move their overall record to over .500 for the first time this season and get off to a 1-0 start to conference play.

The Wheeling University Volleyball team returns to action on Friday, September 23rd, when they host Frostburg State at 7 PM.