Wheeling, W. Va. – It was the start of a big Volleyball weekend inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center as the Wheeling University Volleyball team (15-8, 7-1) hosted Concord on Friday. The Mountain Lions would take an early lead with a set one win, but the Cardinals battled back to win the match 3-1. Over those final three sets, the Cardinals put up a .300 or better hitting percentage in each set as they claimed their seventh Mountain East Conference (MEC) win of the season.

From the get-go, the Mountain Lions showed why they were having one of their best seasons in program history. They battled the Cardinals to an even score at 20-20 late in the set, before hitting a run. They scored seven of the final eight points of the set, with an attack error by the Cardinals giving them a 25-21 set win. They continued that momentum into set two, scoring the first three points. It would be a service error by the Mountain Lions that turned the tides and gave Wheeling back the ball. The Cardinals would go on a 7-2 run, fueled by a pair of kills by Riley Kindall. As they did in the first set, the Mountain Lions continued to battle and had an 18-15 lead over the Cardinals late in the set. It would be Cassidy Wiley that knocked down the next kill and Wheeling would hit a match-changing run.

Kindall would hit a hot streak, knocking down five of the next six kills as Wheeling went on a 6-1 run that had them in front 21-19. Ohio Dominican's Chloe Thompson kept it a one-point game with a kill, but Olivia Batch got the Cardinals back on track with a kill and they set up set point at 24-20. Concord would do everything they could to remain alive, scoring back-to-back points, but in the end it was the Cardinals who finished things off with a Batch kill. The Cardinals took the set 25-22 and, with the momentum on their side, they would never look back. Concord would once again take an early lead in set three, this time at 4-2, but as they did in set two, the Cardinals battled back and ended up tying the match at 5-5.

Concord would take a short-lived 6-5 advantage, but Riley Kindall tied things up at 6-6 with a kill. It would be that kill that sent the Cardinals on their biggest run of the day, scoring nine of the next 10 points, and they were out to a 14-7 lead. Concord continued to fight, but the damage has been done as Wheeling led 21-13 late in the set. It would once again be Kindall who sparked the run with back-to-back kills. A Concord attack error would set up set point and another attack error would end the set as the Cardinals picked up a 25-13 win. The Cardinals now had a 2-1 lead in the match and looked to close things out in set four. Concord once again took the lead, but again the Cardinals battled back to tie things early.

The Cardinals held a 15-10 lead in the middle of the set, and a service error sent the Cardinals on a 9-1 run that set up match point. Riley Kindall had three kills during the run and the Cardinals were ahead 24-as they looked to close out the set. Concord stayed alive with a kill by Chloe Thompson, but it would be Kindall who closed things out as the Cardinals picked up the 25-13 set win. After hitting -.051 in the first set, the Cardinal offense came back with a vengeance, hitting over .300 in each of the final three sets. There were some changes to the starting lineup after the first set and those changes made the difference in the winning effort to open the weekend.

The biggest change came from Riley Kindall, who led the team with 24 kills and tied for the team lead with 16 digs. She started the match as one of the two liberos, but made the move to the front line in the second set and ended up making the difference. The other Cardinal who finished in double-digit kills was Olivia Batch, who finished with 14 kills, and Karly Niesen had another strong day, putting together 48 assists to lead the offense. Niesen also played a big role on defense, tying for the team lead with 16 digs with Kindall. Batch would end with 12 digs on the day to round out the Cardinal's effort.

The Wheeling University Volleyball team returns to action on Saturday, October 26^th, in the first of two matches when they battle Glenville State with tip-off at 1 PM.