Erie, PA. - The NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Tournament kicked off from Gannon University on Thursday as the #2 seeded Wheeling Volleyball team began their run towards a Regional Championship. However, the run would come to an early end as the Cardinals battled to five sets against #7 seeded Shaw before falling 3-2. The Cardinals end the season with a record of 25-8 and, with most everyone returning in 2023, look to use the offseason to continue to grow and build off their successes from 2023.
The Cardinals got the early advantage in set one, as a Shaw attack error put them out in front on their way to scoring three of the first four points of the set. Wheeling would remain in front and got their first kill on the fifth point of the day to make it a 5-2 Cardinals advantage. They extended that lead to as much as 7-3, before the Bears hit two in a row to bring the score to 7-5. Wheeling would hit their first big run of the day, scoring five straight points, headlined by kills from Josie Schroder and Riley Kindall, and the Cardinals were out in front 12-9 at the midway point. The teams went back and forth for the rest of the set, but the Cardinals brought up set point at 24-17 on a Tylah Yeomans kill. Mady Winters would knock down the final kill of the set and Wheeling picked up a 25-17 set one win.
In the second set of the night, the Cardinals once again got out to an early lead as they took advantage of some Shaw errors to go ahead 3-0. Yeomans would add two kills as part of the early run, and the Cardinals were ahead 7-2 through the first nine points of the match. The Cardinal's defense played strong throughout the early portion of the set, and the Cardinals found themselves ahead 10-4. However, Shaw refused to go down as they scored nine of the next 12 points and tied things at 13-13 midway through the set. A Yeomans kill got the Cardinals back on track and they would pick up another 5-1 run and pulled ahead 18-14. Shaw would answer with a 6-1 run that had them ahead 22-21 late and they moved that to 23-22 late in the set. Yeomans came back with a kill to tie things at 23-23 and brought up set point with another kill. The Cardinals finished the three-point run on an attack error to grab a 24-23 set two win and hold a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set saw Shaw get off to a hot start and, after Wheeling had a 4-3 lead early, the Bears scored five straight to take a 7-4 lead. Wheeling continued to battle and eventually overtook Shaw 10-9, but another 5-0 Bears run would put them ahead 14-10. It would be a set of runs as both teams had multiple runs of five or more points, but Shaw would be the one to bring up set point with a kill by Lillian Carlson. The Cardinals stayed alive as Katie Wilking put her first kill of the night on the board, followed by a Yeomans kill, but Shaw would smack down the final kill to win the set 25-22. Set four had that same back and forth feel, and 14 points in things were tied at 7-7. A 5-1 run would put the Bears in font 12-8 at the midway point of the set and they would never give up the lead from there. They were ahead 22-21 late in the set and scored the final four points to pick up a 25-21 set win.
It forced a fifth and deciding set between the two teams, as the Cardinals were now trying to fight to get the momentum back on their side. The two teams traded the first two points of the set, with Carlson knocking down a kill for the Bears while Kindall scored the Cardinal's kill. However, Shaw would be the one with the momentum, and they went on an 11-3 run and took a 12-4 lead late in the set. The Cardinals began to fight back with another Kindall kill and a service ace for Giana Mutersbaugh before Shaw set up match point at 14-7. Kindall would put down her 19th kill of the night to keep Wheeling alive at 14-8, but in the end, it would be Shaw's Khamare Steppe who smacked down the final kill and gave Shaw the 3-2 victory. The Cardinals 2023 season came to an end with the loss, as they finish the year 25-8, but with most of their team returning for 2023, they look to continue to build back to this tournament in 2024.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was senior Tylah Yeomans, who finished with 20 kills on 49 total attacks on the night. Yeomans eclipsed the 20-kill mark for the fifth time this season and needs just 58 kills entering the 2024 season to reach the 1,000-kill mark for her career. Right behind her was junior Riley Kindall, who knocked down 19 kills in the effort, while Mady Winters had eight kills and hit .462 to move her streak to 20 straight matches finishing with a .300 hitting percentage or better. Senior setter Karly Niesen finished out a strong year with 54 assists on the night while leading her team to a .283 hitting percentage in the quarterfinal round. On the defensive side, four Cardinals finished with double digit digs, with sophomore Melia Gorrell leading the way with 16, while Riley Kindall (14), Karly Niesen (12), and Tylah Yeomans (10) all hit double figures.
The Wheeling University Volleyball team now heads into the off-season as they look to grow from this season and head back to the NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Tournament in 2024.
