Last time out, the Cardinals earned their automatic bid for the tournament when they defeated West Virginia State, who holds the #6 seed in this year's Regional Tournament, in what was a rematch of the 2021 MEC Championship game. Early on, the Cardinals faced a speed bump as they fell behind 11-4 over the first 15 points of the set. However, they were able to battle back, getting to within six points of the Yellow Jackets before dropping the set 25-18. After that, the Cardinals turned things on picking up two straight 25-16 set wins to take a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth set. That is when the defense would turn it on, as they limited the Yellow Jackets to just 12 points in the set and the Cardinals would come away with a 25-12 victory to pick up the 3-1 win. The win earned them to automatic bid in the tournament and their 11th straight MEC Tournament Championship.
 

Leading the way for the Cardinals throughout the tournament was junior Riley Kindall, who got better and better with every match. Her best showing came in that championship match, where she picked up a double-double with 14 kills and 18 digs on the night to lead the Cardinals to victory. It was her 18th double-double of the season as she continues to be a strong six-rotation player for the Cardinals. She leads the team with 396 digs this season, setting a new career-high, while sitting second on the team with 356 kills. She plays nearly every point for the team during matches and looks to continue to lead the team through this year's Regional Tournament.
 

The Cardinals offense will also be helped out by All-Region award winners Karly Niesen, Mady Winters, and Tylah Yeomans as they bring a different dimension to the court. Niesen, who earned the MEC's Player of the Year award, enters the gam as the top setter in the Region, with 1272 assists and 11.67 assists/set. She currently sits fourth in all of NCAA DII in both marks and has led the Cardinals to eight matches where they have eclipsed the .300 hitting percentage mark. Yeomans is approaching a career milestone as she heads into the tournament, needing just 78 kills to reach the 1,000 kill mark for her career. Winters adds the third element with a team high 122 blocks and a MEC best .392 hitting percentage entering play.
 

As they enter the 2023 NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Tournament, it is the 16th consecutive appearance for the Cardinals in Regional play. They are one of three MEC teams to make this season's tournament, joinning West Virginia State (#6) and West Liberty (#8). They have a tough path to the Regional Championship game, having to possibly go through three teams that either won or were in their respective conference championships. If they get through the quarterfinal round, the Cardinals would play the winner of the #3 Clarion vs. #6 West Virginia State contest, for a shot at the NCAA Regional Championship. The Cardinals will be chasing down their first NCAA Regional Championship since the 2018 season as they try to punch their ticket to Pittsburgh.
 

The Matchup
 

The Cardinals and Bears are meeting for the second time in program history, with Wheeling leading the all-time series at 2-0. It is the first time the two teams are meeting since the 2018 season, when they also met in the same Regional tournament.. in each of the first two matchups between the two teams it has been Wheeling who walked away with a 3-0 victory.
 

Their last meeting was on December 2nd, 2018 when the Cardinals took down the Bears 3-0. Former Cardinal Cassie Meyer and Haley Kramer, who finished with 14 and 13 kills respectively. Former Cardinal Stephanie Sylvester led the way with 39 assists and Makenna Babb led the way with 10 digs to lead the defensive effort.
 

The Details
 

Tip-off for Thursday afternoon's match is scheduled for 2:30 PM at Gannon University. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.