Wheeling, W. Va. – After going on the road for the first time in October last time out, the Wheeling University Volleyball team (11-7, 3-1) come right back to the Alma Grace McDonough Center on Tuesday night. They open their version of the yearly "The Battle for Wheeling" when they host rival West Liberty with tip-off at 7 PM. It is the end of a stretch of four of five matches against the Mountain East Conference (MEC) North Division, as they look to end the first round of divisional play strong.

Last time out, the Cardinals made the trip to Salem, West Virginia for a non-conference match with the Tigers. The Cardinals got a chance to once again get into their depth, as they went into out of conference play. As a team, the Cardinals hit .303 in the match and didn't allow Salem to get over the 17 points mark in any of the three sets. In the first set, the Cardinals held the Tigers to just nine points and hit a matcj-best .424 in the set. As the day went on, Head Coach Christy Benner would sub in many of her bench players as they continued the success of the starters. The second set would be the closest of any of the three, with Wheeling getting a 25-17 win and they completed the sweep with a 25-14 win in set three.

Leading the charge for the Cardinals as of late has been Samantha Comer, who made the transition from outside hitter to middle Blocker. Since the switch against Point Park, Comer has knocked down at least eight kills in each of those three matches. In the most recent match, she was the Cardinal leader, picking up eight kills on 12 total attacks. She hit .668 for the match, and wrapped up what was a strong week. For her efforts, she earned the MEC's Offensive Player of the Week award, finishing with 18 kills during the week while hitting .615 on the season. Comer has transitioned into the middle of the net and looks to continue to be a force for the Cardinals as they continue through the rest of their MEC schedule.

The other Cardinal to win weekly conference honors was Riley Kindall, who earned the MEC's defensive player of the week award. She finished with 24 digs during the week and, against Salem, made her first start as a libero. She finished with a team-high 10 digs on the night. It was the second straight week that Kindall was awarded conference player of the week honors, after she earned Offensive Player of the Week honors a week ago. The other key libero for the Cardinals has been Chylyn Pate, who was the Cardinal's defensive player of the week for the MEC a week ago. Pate picked up 13 digs against Frostburg State on Tuesday, and now has double digit digs in sight straight matches.

Tuesday's match starts the annual "The Battle for Wheeling" on the volleyball court and ends a strong of four out of five matches against the MEC North Division. During the stretch, the Cardinals have won the first three against Divisional opponents and are looking to keep that success going as they head into this final game of the Divisional stretch. The MEC South Division waits ahead in the middle of the month and the Cardinals will look to keep their success going. First, they must get through their rivals and hold on to the top spot in the MEC North. The Cardinals currently hold a half game lead over Fairmont State and they have to keep winning to maintain that lead.

The Matchup

The Cardinals and Hilltoppers are meeting for the 55th time in program history, with Wheeling leading the all-time series at 52-2. Wheeling is a perfect 29-0 in home matches and 15-1 when playing on the hilltop. The Cardinals have won every meeting between the two teams since the Spring 2021 season, and they look to keep the success going on Tuesday.

In their last meeting, the Cardinals would defeat the Hilltoppers 3-0. Leading the way for the Cardinals was former Cardinal Tylah Yeomans, who finished with 14 kills, while Riley Kindall added 12 kills. Kindall would lead the defensive effort with 10 digs and Chylyn Pate would add 10 digs of her own.

The Details

Tip-off for Tuesday's match is scheduled for 7 PM inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center. You can watch the match live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.