Wheeling, W. Va. - It was the kickoff of a special weekend for the Wheeling University Volleyball team (13-6, 5-1) as they host their Chromosome 18 awareness weekend. They kicked things off on Friday night when they hosted West Virginia Wesleyan coming away with a 3-0 win in the Alma Grace McDonough Center. It was a big night for senior Tylah Yeomans, who knocked down 18 kills in the winning effort.

As set one got started, the Bobcats came out swinging, taking a 3-2 lead over the Cardinals early in the set. However, it wasn't long before Yeomans knocked down her first of 18 kills on the night And tie things at 3-3 getting the ball back in the Cardinals court. They would score five of the next six points and went ahead 7-4 in the early going. The Bobcats would stay alive in the set, battling back to making 12-10 before the Cardinals hit another run to pull away for good. It was once again Yeomans who started the run with a kill and Wheeling what's for four straight points to go ahead 16-10. That lead was enough to sustain them for the rest of the set as They set up match point at 24-16. West Virginia Wesleyan would come back with three straight points before Mady Winters knock down the final kill as wheeling took a 25-19 win.

Wheeling was up one - zero in the match and look to keep their momentum going as they headed into set two. They did just that, scoring for the first five points with Yeomans once again leading the way with two of the four kills. Unlike the first set, The Cardinals were able to hold the lead early and grew it to 11-6 as they reach the Midway point of set two. It took a little longer this time, but once again West Virginia Wesleyan was back in the set as they made it 14-12 before the Cardinals run. Yeoman's gave the Cardinals the ball back with another kill but sent wheeling on a 9-1 run that open things up to 23-13. An attack error would set up another Wheeling Set point but once again the Bobcats scored three points before wheeling could wrap The set up. This time it would be Riley Kindall who knocked down the set winning kill as Wheeling won 25-18 and went up 2-0 in the match.

The third set started off similarly to set two, with the Cardinals building an 8-5 lead early, and the Bobcats battling back to tie things at 8-8. The two teams kept it close through the early part of the set, with the Cardinals never building more than a two point lead through the first 31 points of the set. The Cardinals were staked to a 15-14 lead before a Kindall kill got things going in the right direction. The Cardinals would go on a 6-2 run as they set themselves up for success with a 21-16 lead late in the set.  A few points later, the Cardinals were set up with match point at 24-19 on a Winters kill. This time, the Cardinals would not give anymore to the Bobcats as an Attack Error gave Wheeling the 25-19 set three win as they took the match 3-0.

The Cardinals were led on the day by senior Tylah Yeomans, who knocked down 18 kills in the effort. She leads the MEC this season with 255 kills while hitting .289 in the match. Behind her was junior Mady Winters, who was the only other Cardinal in double digit kills with 10. Karly Niesen once again captained the offensive effort with 39 assists while helping the Cardinals to a .242 team hitting percentage. The defense was led by Libero Melia Gorrell, who picked up 14 digs as one of three double digit dig efforts. Niesen and Riley Kindall each added 10 digs to round out the night in the Cardinal's win.

The Wheeling University Volleyball team returns to action on Saturday, October 14th, as they continue Chromosome 18 Awareness Weekend against Davis & Elkins at 4 PM. You can watch live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE. You can also donate to Chromosome 18 all weekend long by clicking HERE.