Erie, PA. - After three days of competition, the NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Championship came to the Haggerty Family Events Center on Saturday night. The #3 Wheeling University Volleyball team (27-11) battled the host #1 Gannon in the match, playing a rematch of the 2021 Atlantic Regional Championship match. Wheeling got the momentum early, with a set one win, but it wasn't enough as they fell 3-1, bringing the 2024 season to an end.
Coming off a reverse sweep of IUP on Friday, the Cardinals carried their momentum into set one after Gannon scored the first point of the night. Samantha Comer would knock down a kill and the Cardinals scored the next three points to take a 3-1 lead. It was back and forth early in the set, with the score sitting even at 6-6, before a 7-2 Golden Knight's run made it a 13-8 game. Wheeling was up for the a responded, as Katie Wilking knocked down a kill and the Cardinals answered with a 6-2 run of their own that made it a 15-14 set. The Cardinals would take their first lead three points later on a Riley Kindall kill and they held the one-point advantage to a 20-19 score late in the set. Gannon tied things up at 20-20, before Samantha Comer knocked down a kill. It was part of a 5-0 run to end the set, with a Gannon attack error setting up set point and a Mady Winters kill sealing the win at 25-20.
The Cardinals entered the second set looking to extend their lead and things would be tied at 5-5 early on. Gannon answered with three straight points, but the Cardinals kept right up with the Golden Knights, keeping it a one-point set at 13-12. Gannon would take a 15-12 lead, before Comer started another Cardinal run with a kill, they scored six of the next seven points and had their first lead of the set at 18-16. They kept their two-point advantage alive as they reached the 20-point mark, but Gannon would end up scoring four straight points to flip the score to 22-20. Wheeling would tie the set once again with kills from Kindall and Katie Wilking, but Gannon ended up scoring the final three points of the set. They picked up the 25-22 set two wins and things were all tied up at 1-1 heading into the third set.
The Cardinals were looking to shake off the set one loss, and Karly Niesen would get them started with a dump kill. Wheeling scored four of the first five points in the set, and saw themselves staked to a 4-1 advantage. The Cardinals held their advantage at 7-4, before Gannon scored three straight points to tie things at 7-7. It remained a close set as the first two were, and the lead switched hands three times over the next nine points. However, Gannon pulled away with an 8-1 run that made it a 19-13 Gannon advantage. The Cardinals battled back, getting as close as 24-22 on a Winters kill, but Gannon's Hailey Koch knocked down a kill that ended the set at 25-22 and gave Gannon a 2-1 lead. The Cardinals had an early 5-3 lead in set four, but Gannon went on a 10-0 run that ultimately sealed the deal. As Gannon set up set point at 24-17, Winters would knock down a kill to keep the Cardinals alive. However, Journey Blevins ended things with a kill and the Cardinals fell 25-18 and lost the match 3-1.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was outside hitter Riley Kindall, who finished her collegiate career with a double-double to round things out. She led the offense with 12 kills and added 21 digs on defense, ending her collegiate career with a bang. Graduate setter Karly Niesen also had a strong finish, picking up a double-double with 48 assists and 11 digs as she led the Cardinal's offense for one last time. The Cardinals ended with three Cardinals with double digit kills to round out the offense, with Katie Wilking (15) and Samantha Comer (12) each hitting the mark. On defense, three other Cardinals hit double digit digs, with Berit Jones (12), Bella DeBarr (12), and Chylyn Pate (10) each hitting the mark.
The Wheeling University Volleyball team now head into the offseason as they look to make their way back to the Regional Tournament in 2025.
