Wheeling, W. Va. - The extended nine-match homestand would come to an end for the Wheeling University Volleyball team (10-7, 3-1) as they hosted Frostburg State on Tuesday night. For the second straight match, the Cardinals got to dive into their depth as they picked up a 3-0 sweep over the Bobcats to move to 3-1 in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play. 17 different Cardinals appeared in at least one set on the night as the Cardinals got their third conference win of the season.
The night would start with a Frostburg State kill courtesy of Maya Johnson, but Olivia Batch responded to set the Cardinals off on a 6-3 run to start the set. The Bobcats would get to within two-points of the Cardinals before Riley Kindall knocked down a kill that sent the team on a 10-0 run. Kindall would play big during the run, knocking down six of the 10 points as Wheeling took a 16-4 advantage. She would end up picking up seven kills during the set and Wheeling began making substitutions. Lindsey James was one of the first ones of the bench and picked up her first career service ace to make it 20-8. She was also part of a block assist that set up set point. Bella DeBarr would knock down the final kill and Wheeling would pick up a 25-10 win to start the night.
In set two, Frostburg State had momentum from the get-go, taking a 3-1 lead through the first four points. Wheeling would break the short run with an attack error and another service error would get the Cardinals back in the driver's seat. They would score 11 of the next 12 points and broke the set open as they took a 13-5 lead midway through the set. Kindall and Samantha Comer continued their big nights, with Kindall picking up six kills and Comer having five kills. At the end of the set, Wheeling held a 22-18 advantage before Aly Finch subbed in the game. She would knock down the final three kills of the set, and had four total kills in the set. Wheeling would go on to win the set 25-18 and held a 2-0 advantage in the match.
Set three would start with a Frostburg State attack error and kills by Mady Winters and Comer would have the Cardinals out to a 4-2 advantage. Kindall and Bella DeBarr each added kills to make it 6-3, before Frostburg State would battle back. They held their largest advantage of the night at 9-7 and the two teams would end up going back and forth throughout the set. Late in the set, a service error would set up match point for the Cardinals, but Frostburg State was determined to stay in the match and tied the set on a block assist from Maya Johnson and Brenna Siperko. Kindall would respond with a kill to give the Cardinals an advantage and DeBarr would knock down the final kill of the night as the Cardinals won the set 26-24.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Riley Kindall, who finished with 18 kills on 36 total attacks for a .361 hitting percentage. She also got back in the double-double column, as she led the defense with 14 digs on the afternoon. The other Cardinal to reach double digit kills was Samantha Comer, who finished with 10 kills and a .571 hitting percentage on the day, while Karly Niesen finished with 41 assists and led the team to a .353 hitting percentage on the day. Three different Cardinals finished in double digit digs as Chylyn Pate (13) and Faith Keifer (12) each finishing with double digit digs on the day.
The Wheeling University Volleyball team returns to action on Friday, October 11th, when they hit the road to take on Salem with tip-off at 7 PM.
