| Box Score 2 Frostburg, MD. – After a weekend of non-conference play, the Wheeling University Volleyball team (9-6, 2-1) got back to Mountain East Conference (MEC) play on Tuesday night in Frostburg, Maryland. The Cardinals walked away with a 3-1 win, while setter Karly Niesen wrote her name in the Wheeling history books. She became the third player in program history to reach the 4,000 career assist mark, joining former Cardinals Stephanie Sylvester and Andrea Thobe.

Niesen needed just two assists to reach the mark entering the night, and reached the mark in the matches's 12th point. It was on a set two Tylah Yeomans, who completed the play with a kill for Niesen's 4,000th career assist. It was the second of many assists on the night for the senior, who finished with 41 across the four sets in the victory. It brings her career total to 4,039 across her first three plus seasons in the Red and Black and now she moves into third all-time in career assists. She will now chase down the career assist record of 5,920. On the season, Niesen has 617 assists and is averaging 11.22 assists per set over her first 55 sets played this season. She looks to continue her success down the stretch as she hopes to lead her team back to the MEC Championships in 2023.

The night began with a back and forth showing in set one, with the teams trading blows up until Niesen's 4,000th career assist. The set would remain tied through the first 20 points of the set until Wheeling hit a short run that put them ahead 13-12. Mady Winters knocked down a kill to keep the momentum going and the Cardinals were off on a 6-1 run that put them out in front 19-13. It was enough for them to hold on as a Bobcat's service error gave Wheeling their 25th point of the set as they picked up a 25-19 win and went ahead 1-0 for the match. However, Frostburg State would battle back and take the second set 25-22 as they tied th match at 1-1 heading into set three. It was the same scenario the Cardinals faced on Thursday night and they were looking to not repeat Saturday's results.

They came out in set three and took the early lead on a Bobcat attack error, as well as a 5-1 run fueled by two Winters kills that had the Cardinals ahead 6-3. However, any time the Cardinals struck, it seemed Frostburg State struck back as they never fell more than two points behind the Cardinals in the early going. It was 14-12 in favor of the Cardinals at the midway point of the set and freshman Katie Wilking would be the one to get her team scoring. Wilking knocked down the kill that opened up a 5-1 run and Wheeling was staked to a 19-13 lead. Frostburg State would hold battle back to make it 19-16, but Wilking was at it again as she sparked another page run. The Cardinals scored six of the final seven points of the set, with Yeomans knocking down the set point to give Wheeling a 25-17 set win and a 2-1 lead in the match.

In set four, the Bobcats looked to stay alive, and had the advantage early taking an 8-5 lead through the first 13 points. They maintained that three point lead until it was 10-7 and a kill by Winters began to turn things around. Wheeling tied the game at 10-10 and kept it that way until 13-13 when Frostburg State scored three straight to go ahead 16-13. However, an attack error from the Bobcats flipped the ball back to Wheeling's side and they never looked back from there. They scored 12 of the final 14 points of the set and walked away with a 25-18 win as Yeomans slammed down the final kill. The Cardinals went on to win the match 3-1 as they picked up their second MEC win of the season as they hit the October stretch run.

Behind Niesen's 41 assists effort, the Cardinals offense was led by Mady Winters, who finished with a team-best 14 kills on the night. It was the first time that Winters has led the team in kills this season as she had a lot of work in the middle of the net. Katie Wilking was the other Cardinal's double digit attacker, finishing with 13 kills on the night and a career-best .407 hitting percentage. On the defensive side, Berit Jones once again led the way, finishing with 30 digs, marking back-to-back matches where she has gone over 30 digs in the matches. Melia Gorrell (15) and Riley Kindall (14) each finished in double digit digs as well to round out the defensive effort.

The Wheeling University Volleyball team returns to action on Friday, October 6th, when they host Notre Dame College at 7 PM.