Wheeling, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Homecoming and Family Weekend is officially underway as the Wheeling University Volleyball team (10-6, 3-1) took the court in the Alma Grace McDonough Center. They played host to Notre Dame College and picked up a 3-0 win to open the weekend. The Cardinals now move to 3-1 in Mountain East Conference (MEC) as they move towards the MEC playoffs.

All three sets were competitive throughout the night, but early on in set one it was the Cardinals who took control. They scored four of the first five points of the set, with Katie Wilking and Tylah Yeomans each getting a kill on the run. Notre Dame College would battle back to tie things at 6-6, but the back and forth began as Wheeling took the lead back at 10-7. The Cardinals would put together a trio of small runs in the middle portion of the set as they extended their lead to 17-11. Mady Winters would slam down a pair of kills late in the set and Wheeling up at set point at 24-20. Back-to-back Notre Dame College points forced a Wheeling timeout. The break gave them time to reset as Tylah Yeonans knock down the final kill to give Wheeling the 25-22 set win and a 1-0 lead in the match.

That set one win was crucial for the Cardinals Nas when Notre Dame College loses the first set, they were 0-7 entering the match. Early on, the Falcons tried to flip that script as they took a 5-3 lead early in the match. However, an attack air gave wheeling the ball back and they would never look back going on a 7-0 run to build a 10-5 lead. A Notre Dame college kill briefly broke the Cardinals run, but they came back with two kills with from Riley Kindall and a kill from Katie Wilking That pushed their lead to 13-6. As they did all night, the Falcons would not go down quietly as they battled back to make it a 21-19 set in a late going. A Wilking kill and a Kindall Service Ace got the Cardinals back on track. Winters would knock down the final kill of the set as the Cardinals won 25-21 and took a 2-0 lead in the match.

After Notre Dame College once again took an early lead and set three, the Cardinals would answer as a Big kill from Karly Niesen tied the set at 4-4, and got the Cardinals going as they took a 10-7 lead. Winters and Yeomans led the Cardinals down the stretch as they each picked up two kills with Wheeling and sending their lead to 17-10 near the Midway mark. The Falcons would try one more comeback attempt, making it 19-13 with a short 3-2 run, but Wheeling would not allow them to get any closer, allowing four more points in the set. An attack error would get the Cardinals into the 20s before a 4-0 run would set them up for the win with Melia Gorrell tapping things off with a service ace. A falcon attack air would set up match point for the Cardinals, and the same result gave the Cardinals the win as they picked up a 25-17 set win and a 3-0 win in the match.

Leading away for the car no offense was Junior Riley Kindall, who led the way with 11 kills on the night. It was an efficient night for the junior as she finished with a .333 Heading percentage and continues to be a strong six rotation player for the Cardinals. The most efficient hitter on the night for Wheeling was Mady Winters, who added 10 kills on the night and a team high .568 hitting percentage setting a new season high. Wrapping up the offensive effort was freshman Katie Wilking, who knocked down nine kills on the night. After setting a milestone last time on the court, Karly Niesen kept it going leading the way with 39 assists on the night. On the defensive side, the Cardinals were led by Melia Gorrell, who finished with 12 days, while Berit Jones and Karly Niesen each finished with 10 digs.

The Wheeling University Volleyball team continues their Homecoming and Family weekend on Saturday, October 7th, when they host Slippery Rock In non-conference action at 4 PM. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with live stats by clicking HERE.