Institute, W. Va. – After a grueling preseason schedule to start the year, the Wheeling University Volleyball team (6-5, 0-1) hit the road for their Mountain East Conference (MEC) opener on Friday night. They battled West Virginia State and after falling behind early, were never able to recover as they fell 3-0. Wheeling was able to keep it close in the final two sets, but just couldn't get the 25th point they needed to stay alive.

In the match's first set, it was the Yellow Jackets who got off to the hot start, taking a 5-2 lead where they smacked down four kills. A kill by Katie Wilking tipped the ball back to the Cardinals and they battled back to get within two points at 8-6. It would be a set of runs for West Virginia State as they built a 15-10 lead on a 7-4 run and then got it to 21- 14 with another 8-3 run that put Wheeling in a hole. The Cardinals battled back with a pair of kills for Riley Kindall, but West Virginia State set up set point at 24-17. Wilking would get in one more swing to keep the set alive, but the Yellow Jackets would get the final kill and to pick up the 25-18 set one win and take a 1-0 lead in the match.

After dropping the first set, Wheeling came out with some authority in set two as Mady Winters knocked down a pair of kills from the start to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead. Another Winters kill and a kill from Karly Niesen would put Wheeling ahead 4-2 in the early going. However, West Virginia State would battle back and take the lead as the set moved on, but Wheeling kept it close making it 10-9 19 points into the set. After they extended their lead to 14-12, the Cardinals were able to tie the set with back-to-back kills from Katie Wilking and Tylah Yeomans that made it a 14-14 set. The two teams would go back and forth until the score sat at 19-19 late in the set. However, it was another run for the Yellow Jackets that clinched the set as they scored six of the next eight points to win the set 25-21 and take a 2-0 lead in the match.

With the Cardinals trying to keep the match alive, they went point for point with the Yellow Jackets through the first eight points of set three. Yeomans and Kindall would each get kills in the early going and it was 4-4 early West Virginia State would hit another run, scoring eight of the next nine points and they took their biggest lead of the night at 12-5. Kindall would pick up a kill to end the run and the Cardinals would slowly but surely battle their way back into the set. A Yeomans kill and a series of West Virginia State attack errors would get Wheeling on the board, but the Yellow Jackets would hold a 23-14 lead. Winters would then get a kill to keep the set alive and the Cardinals would score five of the next six points to make it a 24-19 set. However, West Virginia State would finish the set with a kill from Jacklyn Simms and West Virginia State would win the set 25-19 and take the match 3-0.

Leading the way for the Cardinals on offense was the reigning MEC offensive Player of the Week, junior Riley Kindall. Kindall had 10 kills on the evening on 35 total attacks while also adding eight digs on the defensive side of the ball. Mady Winters added eight kills while Tylah Yeomans and Katie Wilking each added six kills on the night. Karly Niesen led the offense with 26 assists on the night, while also leading the defense with 14 digs. Melia Gorrell, Kindall, and Giana Mutersbaugh finished behind her, picking up eight digs each. The Cardinals will now get set for a big set of MEC North play over September and early October as they look to rebound and get back to their winning ways in conference play.

The Wheeling University Volleyball team returns to action on Tuesday, September 26th, when they hit the road to face Fairmont State with tip-off at 7 PM.