Wheeling, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Volleyball team (17-8, 8-1) celebrated Halloween on Saturday with a tri-match against Glenville State and Ohio Dominican. After the Wheeling Athletics Trunk or Treat before the matches, the Cardinals came inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center and swept the day with a pair of 3-0 wins. It wrapped up a 3-0 weekend for the Cardinals, that saw them win nine of the 10 sets they played, including two sweeps on Saturday.
Match One: Wheeling 3, Glenville State 0
The first match of the day saw the Cardinals continue their MEC South run as they welcomed in Glenville State. The Cardinals started some new faces and Ohio Dominican would get the early start, scoring the first three points. Olivia Batch would get the Cardinals in the driver's seat with a kill, and they scored four straight points to take a 4-3 lead. The two teams would continue jockeying for position throughout the first set until Glenville State led 11-10. It would be Batch once again who tied the set and sent the Cardinals on another 4-0 run that put them up 14-11. They maintained a slight 19-17 advantage before Bella DeBarr sent them on the match clinching run. They scored five straight points to bring up set point, but two Pioneer points kept the set alive. DeBarr would knock down the final kill and the Cardinals took a 25-19 win and a 1-0 lead in the match.
The Cardinals kept the momentum going in set two as an attack error got them going and they scored four of the first five points of the set. Aly Finch would pick up her first kill during the run, starting what would be a big match for the senior. The Cardinals would go on runs of 7-0 and 6-1 in the early portion of the set, and went out to an 18-6 lead as the set reached its midway point. Wheeling had several contributors along the way, with Samantha Comer, Shelby James, Lindsey James, and Lainey Simmons all getting involved during the run. The Cardinals eclipsed the 20-point mark before Ohio Dominican would reach double digits, but back-to-back kills made it a 21-11 score. Bella DeBarr would knock down a kill and Wheeling went on a 3-1 streak that set up set point. Lindsey James would knock down the final kill that gave Wheeling a 25-12 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the final set, Head Coach Christy Benner continued the theme of going to her depth, and the Cardinals jumped out to a 7-5 lead. Glenville State got back on the board and Lainey Simmons would knock down a kill that sent Wheeling on their biggest run of the day. They scored 11 of the next 15 points and created some wiggle room at 18-10 at the midway point of the set. The Cardinals kept swinging late into the set with Finch collecting two more kills and the Cardinals set themselves up with a 23-13 lead. Glenville State continued to battle throughout the match, putting up three straight points before Lainey Simmons knocked down the 24th point to set up match point. The Pioneers added two more points in the set, but it was once again Simmons who brought things to an end with a kill as the Cardinals won 25-18 and took the match 3-0.
It was a big day for the Cardinals as a team, with them putting together a .392 hitting percentage between 14 different attackers on the day. Leading the way was Aly Finch, who knocked down 10 kills and had an impressive .833 hitting percentage on the afternoon. The effort tied her for the third highest hitting percentage in a single match, matching the marks of former Cardinal Lexi Smith and Lauran Graves. Bella DeBarr would add eight kills to finish behind her, while 13 different Cardinals knocked down at least one kill in the match. Nicole Reasbeck led the way with 17 assists, while Karly Niesen added 10 and Faith Keifer put up nine in the match. The back line was led by the trio of Niesen, Chylyn Pate, and Cami Black, who each finished with three assists. The Cardinals looked to continue the momentum as they headed into match two.
Match Two: Wheeling 3, Ohio Dominican 0
After both teams swept Glenville State earlier in the day, the Cardinals took on Ohio Dominican. In set one, Olivia Batch got the kill to start things off and the Cardinals took a 2-1 lead. Ohio Dominican would come back, scoring three straight to take a 4-2 lead before a Riley Kindall kill got the ball back in the Cardinal's court. They would take the ball and run with it as they scored seven straight points to take a 9-4 advantage. Kindall would continue to play a big role during the first set both on the attack and in the serving game. Kindall would pick up another kill that sent the Cardinals on a 7-0 run, which she would also wrap up with back-to-back service aces. The Cardinals defense stayed strong throughout the set holding the Panthers to single digits as they set up set point at 24-8. Ohio Dominican would pick up one more point before a setting error ended set one.
With the Cardinals picking up a 25-9 set one win, Ohio Dominican looked to stay strong in set two. It was a back and forth battle throughout the set, with Wheeling holding the early advantage at 7-5. They would hold that advantage over the next 20 points, leading 17-15 late in the set before Ohio Dominican went on a 5-0 run. They took a 20-18 and had Wheeling on the ropes, setting up match point at 24-23. Katie Wilking would get the kill that tied up the set, sending things into the win-by-two scenario and a Block Assist from Mady Winters and Karly Niesen set up set point at 25-14. Winters and Niesen would stand tall one more time, getting the final block assist to end the set at 26-24 and give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead in the match.
Ohio Dominican tried to gain the momentum, scoring the first point of set three on a kill from Jenna Peters, but the Cardinals responded with three straight points to take a 3-1 lead. It was another back and forth battle throughout the set, but this time it was Ohio Dominican who had the lead at 17-15 late in the set. Mady Winters would get a kill that sent the Cardinals on a 3-0 run that made it 18-17 in favor of the Cardinals. Ohio Dominican tied the set up with a Peter Kills, but the Cardinals officially put things out of reach with a 6-0 run that made it 24-18 and set up match point for the Cardinals. Ohio Dominican would stay alive, getting over the 20-point threshold, scoring three straight points to make it 24-21. Things would end when Samantha Comer knocked down the final kill and the Cardinals went on to win by the final score of 25-21, earning a 3-0 sweep.
The Cardinals were led by Riley Kindall, who finished with 15 kills while hitting .353 on 34 total attacks. Kindall would also finish with a double-double, putting together 11 digs to finish second as she picked up her 11th double-double of the season. Karly Niesen led the Cardinal's offense with 35 assists and helped the Cardinals to a .257 hitting percentage, while Katie Wilking added nine kills to round out the offense. On defense, Niesen was the Cardinal's leader with 12 digs, wrapping up her double-double, while Olivia Batch added 11 digs to round out the effort.
The Wheeling University Volleyball team returns to action on Tuesday, October 29th, when they take on Fairmont State with tip-off at 7 PM.
