Wheeling, W. Va. - As the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament stretch run begins, the Wheeling University Volleyball team (17-6, 8-1) will have the luxury of being on their home court for the majority of it. They start the first of three straight home matches on Tuesday night when they host Fairmont State with tip-off at 7 PM. Of their remaining six matches, four of them will come at home as they play this Tournament stretch inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center.
They had a brief reprieve from their home schedule this past weekend as they swept the weekend in a pair of road MEC contests, winning the most recent one over Glenville State 3-0. The Cardinal's defense led the way throughout the weekend as they did not allow more than 20 points in any of the sets played and allowed less than 20 points in five of their six sets. In the Saturday match, the team hit .244 across the three sets against the Pioneers, winning by scores of 25-13, 25-17, and 25-13 to pick up the three-set victory. As a team, the Cardinals knocked down 16 blocks in the match, 12 block assists and four solo blocks, while digging out 57 balls as the defense led the way. The win moved the Cardinals to 8-1 in MEC play and helped them keep pace with West Virginia State in the MEC South for the right to host the 2023 MEC Volleyball Tournament.
Leading the Cardinal's defensive effort throughout the weekend was junior Mady Winters, who finished with 20.0 blocks over the past week, including six in the finale with the Pioneers. She currently sits second in the conference with 83 blocks, behind Fairmont State's Emma Ludwig, while averaging 1.12 blocks/set. Prior to this weekend's matches, Winters only had two matches where she finished with five or more blocks. She has hit that mark in each of her last three matches and looks to continue her strong stretch over the final six regular season matches. Along with her work on defense, Winters has continued to produce strong numbers on the offensive side, adding 26 kills over the past week's games. Winters is one of several dual threat for the Cardinals and looks to continue that success as they close out October.
On the offensive side, Tylah Yeomans continues her tear knocking down a team-high 10 kills against Glenville State and 35 kills during the course of the past week. Saturday's 10-kill effort marked her 17th double-digit kill match in 21 matches played this season as she leads the MEC with 291 kills so far. She is also approaching a career milestone, needing 192 kills to join the 1,000 career kills club. The Cardinals also continued to get a big effort from junior Riley Kindall, who finished with eight kills and 11 digs, just missing another double-double effort. The Cardinals would have three women finish in double digit digs with Berit Jones (14) and Melia Gorrell (10) also reaching double digits.
With six regular season matches remaining, the Cardinals are in prime position to make it back to the MEC Tournament once again in 2023. A win or a Frostburg State loss to Glenville State would ensure the Cardinals a trip to the MEC Tournament, but they have even higher aspirations in mind. While they have won the MEC Championship every season since the 2013 season, the Cardinals have not hosted an MEC Championship event since 2019 season. They are currently tied with West Virginia State for the best record in the MEC at 8-1, with the top team in the MEC earning the right to host the tournament. As it stands right now, West Virginia State would hold the tie breaker over Wheeling for the right to host if both teams win out, so Wheeling will be hoping for a West Virginia State loss down the stretch in order to earn hosting rights for the tournament.
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Falcons will meet for the 58th time in program history on Tuesday night, and the second time during the 2023 season. Wheeling currently leads the all-time series with a record of 45-12, with 23 of those 45 wins coming on their home floor. Wheeling has won 44 of the last 45 meetings between the two teams, with the lone loss coming during the 2020 COVID-shortened campaign in Fairmont, West Virginia.
However, their most recent meeting was the closest in a while as the Cardinals picked up a 3-2 five-set victory over the Falcons. It was a big day for Tylah Yeomans in that match, as she knocked down 22 kills to lead the offense, while Katie Wilking and Riley Kindall each added 15. On the defensive end, Berit Jones would come through with 36 digs, which stands as her season-high on the Cardinal's back line.
The Details
Tip-off for Tuesday night's game is scheduled for 7 PM inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
