Wheeling, W. Va. – After claiming the #1 seed in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) North Division, the Wheeling University Volleyball team begins their run in the MEC Tournament. The run for the conference title begins Thursday afternoon when they battle #4S West Virginia Wesleyan with tip-off at 2:30 PM. The Cardinals are looking to defend their title from the 2023 season after finishing the regular season strong.

In their regular season finale, the Cardinals climbed the hilltop for the second edition of "The Battle for Wheeling" this season. The Cardinals offensive efficiency has been driving them down the final stretch of the season, and it was another strong showing with a team .299 hitting percentage through the three sets. The first set was their most efficient of the day, where they hit .412 as a team, knocking down 15 kills on 34 total attacks. Meanwhile, the defense held West Liberty to a .034 hitting percentage and the Cardinals picked up a 25-14 set one win. It was another .400 hitting percentage showing for the Cardinals on set two, and they once again pulled off the 25-16 win. The final set saw the Cardinals wrap things up with a 25-18 win in the closest set of the night as they pulled off the 3-0 victory.

Leading the way for the Cardinals was setter Karly Niesen, who finished with 40 assists on the day, while leading the Cardinals to a .299 hitting percentage. Niesen has been the leader for the Cardinals offense all season long, leading them to a conference leading .258 hitting percentage. She leads the Nation in both NCAA DI and NCAA DII in assists with 1,248, while averaging 10.95 assists/set. She has led the Cardinals to a .300 hitting percentage or better 11 times this season, and is the program's new record holder for Career Assists with 5,996. She enters the Quarterfinal round needing just four assists to become just the 22^nd setter in NCAA DII history to reach the 6,000 career assist mark. She looks to continue leading the Cardinal offense as they hit the tournament run.

One of the keys to the Cardinal's success has been their efficient hitter and they have the most efficient hitter in all of NCAA DII. Katie Wilking enters Thursday's match with a .407 hitting percentage, leading all of NCAA DII in that category. She has had a .400 hitting percentage or better in each of her last five matches and has hit .300 or better in 15 straight matches. She earned Second Team All-MEC honors for the second time in her career and looks to continue to be that solid piece for the Cardinals in postseason play. Riley Kindall was the Cardinal's other First Team All-MEC selection, finishing what has been a strong regular season. Kindall finished with 403 kills on the season, sitting second in the conference, and added 362 digs to sit fifth in the conference.

The 2024 MEC Tournament kicks off with Quarterfinal action on Thursday, with all eight MEC playoff teams in action. The three day tournament will be a single-elimination tournament, with the winning teams advancing to the next day of competition. West Virginia State will serve as the host site of the event for the third year in a row, after the Yellow Jackets won the MEC South Division with a 13-1 record. The Quarterfinals will play out on Thursday, followed by the semifinals on Friday, and the 2024 MEC Volleyball Championship match on Saturday night. The Cardinals have won the MEC Championship every season since the MEC was formed back in 2013, and they are looking to keep that streak going this season.

The Matchup

The Cardinals and Bobcats are meeting for the 34^th time in program history, and the sixth time in postseason play. The Cardinals lead the all-time series at 29-4 overall and led and lead the postseason series with a 5-0 record. The Cardinals have won every match against Bobcats in the 20^th century, and are 11-0 when they have to go on the road to face the Bobcats. It will be the second meeting between the two teams this season, after they met in Buckhannon, West Virginia earlier this season.

That first meeting came on October 18^th, 2024, in a match that the Cardinals would win 3-0. The Cardinals were led by Katie Wilking, who finished with 11 kills on the day while Karly Niesen added 28 assists in the contest. The Cardinal defense was led by Olivia Batch, who finished with 10 digs, and Riley Kindall, who added eight digs to round out the day.

The Details

Tip-off for Wheeling's MEC Quarterfinal match is scheduled for 2:30 PM inside the Walker Convocation Center on the campus of West Virginia State University. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.