Erie, PA. - Things didn't look good for the Wheeling University Volleyball team (27-10) after two sets, but the senior group refused to go away. The Cardinals turned the tide with a set three win and rode that momentum all the way to a reverse sweep as the Cardinals took down #2 IUP 3-2. Wheeling's senior class wasn't ready to go home yet, and advanced to the NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Championship for the first time since the 2021 season.
With the Cardinals trailing 2-0, it would be senior middle hitter Mady Winters who got her team going with a kill. It sent the Cardinals on a 4-1 run, and a Riley Kindall kill would stretch that advantage to 5-2. It would be the senior class that turned the tide, and with the score sitting at 8-7, Winters officially took control of the match. She knocked down three straight kills and the Cardinals had their biggest lead of the night at 11-7. However, the Crimson Hawks wouldn't die and the back and forth continued until the set was tied at 21-21. The two teams would end up going to a win-by-two scenario and the set hung in the balance with the score sitting at 26-26. Winters started the spark and it was Winters who finished it with a kill that gave Wheeling the 27-26 advantage. An attack error finished the set and gave Wheeling a 28-26 set three win that kept the match alive at 2-1.
As the team's met for the in between set break, the Cardinals talked about having nothing to lose and they continued to play lose throughout the night. It was another back and forth set early on in set four, with IUp holding an early 8-6 lead before Winters added another kill to make it a one-point set at 8-7. Each time the Crimson Hawks went on a run, the Cardinals would battle right back and late in the set IUP was up 16-15. A service error got the ball back in the Cardinal's court and an attack error gave Wheeling a 17-16 lead. IUP would take back the lead at the 20th point and threatened once again to put things away at 23-22. Another service error gave Wheeling an opening and they took advantage as Winters knocked down a kill to set up set point. IUP would swing to tie the set, but an attack error brought things to a close as the Cardinals evened things up at 2-2 with a 25-23 set three win.
It would force a decisive fifth set and after IUP got the first point, Kindall responded with a kill to even things up at 1-1. The two teams would go point for point throughout the set and things were even at 7-7. It was an IUP attack error that gave the Cardinals the green light and they held the advantage the rest of the night. A kill by Kindall made it a 9-8 Cardinal lead and IUP came right back with a kill from Delaney Concannon. A IUP attach error would once again give Wheeling the advantage and Berit Jones took the serving box. She started her run with a service ace and would serve the Cardinals to victory. She led the team on a 6-0 run, with Kindall knocking down three of those six kills. With the match on the line at 14-9, setter Karly Niese turned to Kindall and Kindall got it done with a kill to give Wheeling the 15-9 win. After being down 2-0, Head Coach Christy Benner was proud of her team's resolve to get back to the Regional Championship.
"We had some really good matchups, and we were confident coming in to today's match," said Wheeling University Head Volleyball Coach Christy Benner. "Our seniors did not want to lose and I'm proud of the way they fought back. We talk about getting back to the Regional Championships every year and this is where we want to be. We had some freshman that stepped in and played very well, filling in rolls and that helped give us that spark."
When the Cardinals needed her most, it was senior Mady Winters who came through, putting together a season-high 18 kills on the day. She was the Cardinal's most efficient hitter on the night, hitting .492, and came through when her team needed her the most with 10 of those 18 kills coming in the third and fourth sets. It was another big day for senior Riley Kindall, who knocked down 26 kills, including the kill that would eventually win the match for the Cardinals. Wheeling's blocking game would be one of the difference makers on the night, with the team picking up 19 blocks, led by freshman Lainey Simmons. Simmons set a new career high with five blocks on the day and came in strong in the semifinal match. The back line was led by Riley Kindall, who picked up 23 digs, while Karly Niesen and Bella DeBarr added 15 digs respectively.
The Cardinals are advancing to the 2024 NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Championship match where they will battle the winner of #1 Gannon vs. #5 West Virginia State. The Cardinals are advancing to the Regional Semifinal for the first time since the 2021 season, when the tournament was hosted in Wheeling. That season, the Cardinals would battle Gannon in the Regional Championship and fell in a 3-0 sweep. The last time the Cardinals took on West Virginia State, they fell 3-1 in the 2024 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Championship. Either way, this senior group will be playing with passion as they look to send Wheeling to the Elite 8 for the first time since the 2018 season, when they earned a five-set win over Seton Hill.
Tip-off for tomorrow's NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Tournament Championship match is scheduled for 7 PM inside the Hagerty Family Events Center in Erie, Pennsylvania. You can watch the match live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
