Wheeling, W. Va. – On Tuesday, the Wheeling University Volleyball team (18-8, 9-1) officially punched their ticket to the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Volleyball Tournament. They did it with their 3-0 win over Fairmont State on the road, becoming the first team from the MEC North to clinch their spot. It was another efficient night for the Cardinal offense that led the effort, with Wheeling hitting .280 as a team on Tuesday night.

After Joey Borelle started the night with a kill, Wheeling would set the tone early, getting out to a 4-1 lead. Samantha Comer, Riley Kindall, and Mady Winters each knocked down kills, beginning what would be big days for all three attackers. Fairmont State would get back to within two points of the Cardinals, but they once again found their groove on a kill by Kindall that sent them on a 10-2 run. It opened the scoring to 15-5 in favor of the Cardinals with the middles pacing the effort. Winters and Katie Wilking each had two kills on the run as the Cardinals built a lead. Wheeling reached the 20-point mark while Fairmont was in single digits, and a Comet kil would bring up set point at 24-13. Kindall would knock down the final kill and the Cardinals picked up a healthy 25-13 win to start the night.

As the night went on, the sets would get more and more competitive and each time the Cardinals responded by upping their hitting percentage. Fairmont State once again got the first point of the night in set two, and held a 7-5 lead after the first 12 points. Kills by Karly Niesen and Olivia Batch would not the score tempeoarily and it was a 6-2 run that gave Wheeling what was their biggest lead of the set so far at 13-10. Things would open up even further at the set's midway point when Wheeling hit a 7-2 run that saw Wheeling push their lead to 21-13. Fairmont State would break the run, but three points layter it was set point Wheeling at 24-14. Two Falcon points on a kill by Borelle and a service ace for Natalie Zemba kept the set alive, before a Falcon attack error gave Wheeling a 25-16 win, and a 2-0 lead in the match.

The third set saw Fairmont State get out to its biggest lead to start a set, leading 4-1 after five points. That would quickly change as a Falcon attack error sent the Cardinals on a 5-0 run that gave them a 6-4 advantage. Fairmont State would begin to fight back, getting the score back even at 13-13 midway through the set before Winters picked up a kill. The Cardinals would score seven of the next eight points, reaching the 20-point mark at 20-14 to hold a six-point advantage. The Falcons continued to fight, gettinAs close as 21-17 before three straight Cardinal points set up match point at 24-17. Borelle would get one more kill in, but it was Olivia Batch who would send the fans home with a kill that gave Wheeling the 25-28 set three win. The Cardinals picked up the 3-0 sweep and officially punched their ticket to this year's MEC Tournament.

Leading the way for the Cardinals was Riley Kindall, who picked up her 12^th double-double of the season. She led the Cardinal offense with 14 kills and added a team-high 22 digs on the back line to pace the Cardinal effort. Katie Wilking would be the other Cardinal to reach double digit kills on the day with 10, while Mady Winters added seven. It was another thing day for setter Karly Niesen, who finished with 49 assists and now needs just 155 to reach the all-time program record. Niesen would also earn a double-double with 16 digs on the back line, while Chylyn Pate added 11 digs of her own to round out the night.

The Wheeling University Volleyball team returns to action on Friday, November 8^th, when they travel to Point Park with tip-off at 7 PM.