Wheeling, W. Va. - Throughout the early part of the season, the Wheeling University Volleyball team (17-8, 8-1) had the luxury of playing a lot of home matches, including a nine-match home stand between September and October. As they transition into November, the script flips with the Cardinals beginning a season-long four-match road streak between the final week of October and the first week of November. The team starts the stretch on Tuesday night when they travel to Fairmont State for a big Mountain East Conference (MEC) North Division Matchup.

Last time out, the Cardinals hosted the Wheeling Tri-Match where they welcomed in both Glenville State and Ohio Dominican. The Cardinals had a big day, picking up a pair of 3-0 sweeps as they moved to 17 wins on the season. They opened the day against MEC foe Glenville State and battled throughout the first set. However, it would be the Cardinal's most efficient match of the weekend, with the team putting up hitting percentages of .323, .400, and .444 between the three sets. They would pick up a 3-0 win and earned their second MEC South victory of the weekend. Things would wrap up with an in-region battle with Ohio Dominican, and the Cardinals would secure another 3-0 victory. The Cardinals would get out to a hot start and never looked back as they picked up wins of 25-9, 26-24, and 25-21 to round out the weekend.

Leading the offense for the Cardinals was setter Karly Niesen, who earned the conference's Offensive Player of the Week award. Across the week, Niesen would finish with 152 assists and helped lead the Cardinals to a .294 hitting percentage on the floor. Her biggest effort came in the form of a 59 assist effort against Ashland back on Tuesday night in the team's five-set victory. Niesen added two double-doubles over the weekend, as part of three on the week, and led the Cardinals to the season-best .392 hitting percentage against Glenville State. Niesen is chasing down the career assist mark, needing just 195 more to reach the mark. As they hit the stretch run, Niesen looks to be a big contributor for the Cardinals, as she battles for her third consecutive MEC Player of the Year award.

It was also a big weekend for Riley Kindall, who continued her success both on offensive and defense. She played in two matches over the weekend for the Cardinals, securing two more double-doubles to bring her total for the season to 13 double-doubles. Kindall's best outing came against Concord, where she started as a libero before switching to attack when her team needed her. She finished with a team-best 24 kills and tied for the team lead with 16 digs throughout the day and helped her team to a big conference win. In the serving game, the Cardinals have seen Faith Keifer step up, picking up at least one service ace in each of the three matches. She had two of her four on the weekend against Concord and she continues to step up in big roles for her team.

As they head into the final three weeks of play, the Cardinals still hold that #1 spot in the MEC North Division with a one-match advantage over West Liberty. The Cardinals played each of their four divisional opponents at home through the early portion of the season and will now have to go through the gauntlet with all four of those opponents coming on the road to end October and start November. With a win on Tuesday or a Frostburg State loss, the Cardinals will have officially clinched a spot in the 2024 MEC Tournament and will continue to be locked in a battle with West Virginia State for hosting rights for the 2024 MEC Tournament. West Virginia State currently holds the tiebreaker, but a West Virginia State loss in conference play would put Wheeling in the driver's seat for hosting rights.

The Matchup

The Cardinals and Falcons are meeting for the 61^st time in program history, and the second time this season. Wheeling leads the all-time series with a record of 48-12, including an 18-1 record when playing at Fairmont State. The Falcons and Cardinals have history, with Fairmont State ending the Cardinal's historic 219-straight MEC match win streak, and the two teams have been battling back and forth ever since.

The first meeting between the two teams came on October 1^st, 2024, in a five-set match inside the Alma Grace McDonough Center, with Wheeling coming away with a 3-2 win. The Cardinals were led on offense by Riley Kindall and Olivia Batch, with the duo picking up 24 and 20 kills respectively. O. Defense, Chylyn Pate led the way with 20 digs to round out the defensive effort.

The Details

Tip-off for Tuesday's match is scheduled for 7 PM inside the Feaster Center on the campus of Fairmont State. You can watch the match live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.