West Liberty, W. Va. – With the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament looming, the Wheeling University Volleyball team (23-9, 12-2) took the drive up Route 88 for their regular season finale. They took on rival West Liberty in the second meeting of "The Battle for Wheeling" and the Cardinals kept their momentum going with a 3-0 sweep. Wheeling fell a tick under the .300 hitting percentage mark during the match and held their opposition to a sub .100 hitting percentage for the second straight match.
Wheeling continued their string of hot starts this season, knocking down a match-high .412 hitting percentage in the first set. The Hilltoppers would take an early 3-1 lead, but an attack error gave the ball back to Wheeling and they went off.
Samantha Comer followed with a kill and the Cardinals would go on a 12-1 run that opened up the scoring. Comer and
Olivia Batch each knocked down two kills on the run and the Cardinals held a 12-4 advantage. The Cardinals just kept swinging, getting to the 19-poing mark before the Hilltoppers reached double digits. Batch would wrap up a big set with a kill that brought up set point at 24-12, but the Hilltoppers would add back-to-back points to make it 24-12. It would be the most efficient hitter in the nation,
Katie Wilking, that cleaned things up with a kill and Wheeling took set one 25-14.
Wheeling carried that momentum into the second half, as
Riley Kindall got things started with a kill. It sent her team on a 5-1 run, with Kindall responsible for three of those five points. However, West Liberty would slowly battle back in the set, and would get back to within one point, making the score 11-10. Wilking would stop them in their tracks with a kill, followed by kills from Kindall and
Karly Niesen that got the Cardinals rolling again. This time, it was a 9-3 run as the Cardinals got to the 20-point mark, taking a 19-12 lead. The two teams kept battling back and forth and the Cardinal's lead was cut to 22-16 before a Wilking kill got the Cardinals on track. An attack error would set up set point and Batch would knock down the final kill to give Wheeling a 25-16 set two win.
Wheeling held the 2-0 lead, but West Liberty was not ready to go down without a fight. The third set would be a battle of defenses with both teams holding a sub .100 hitting percentage. As they did in the second set, the Cardinals once again started strong, scoring five straight points to take a 5-0 lead. It would be a set of runs as West Liberty battled to make it a 6-5 set, and the Cardinals went on a 4-0 run to regain their 10-5 advantage. The set would come tied at 13-13 by the midway point of the set and the two teams continued to battle until Wheeling held a 19-18 lead.
Mady Winters would knock down a kill that started a 3-0 run that made it 22-18. An attack error gave West Liberty their final point of the night, before three straight Cardinal points, capped off by a Wilking kill would bring the set to its final score of 25-19. They completed the sweep to round out the regular season as they head into the MEC Tournament with momentum on their side.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was
Olivia Batch and
Riley Kindall, who each finished with double-doubles on the day. Kindall led the way with 11 kills and 12 digs on the day, while Batch finished with 10 kills and 11 digs on the day to lead the offense. The Cardinal's most efficient hitter was once again
Katie Wilking, who knocked down nine kills and held a .533 hitting percentage on the night.
Karly Niesen continued her strong season, leading the way with 49 assists while leading the Cardinals to a .299 hitting percentage on the night. She rounded out the day with a double-double, finishing with a team-high 15 digs to round out the day.
The Wheeling University Volleyball team now awaits its first round MEC Tournament matchup, with the tournament kicking off next Thursday.
